William Tanner

His boyhood dream of being a big city newspaper reporter was realized when Bill Tanner joined The Cleveland Press in 1943. His journalism career culminated as Editor of The Albuquerque Tribune from which he retired in 1987.

Bill Tanner was born in Cleveland, OH, Feb. 23, 1925 and passed away on June 29, 2022 in Fort Myers. He attended Cleveland public schools and earned a BA degree from Case Western Reserve University in 1951.He joined The Cleveland Press, a Scripps-Howard newspaper, after high school and entered the Army in 1943, served in World War II, (Italy, France, Germany, and England) and returned to the Press in 1946.

Bill was a prize-winning reporter and writer. Among his varied assignments, he covered the Sam Sheppard murder case in 1954, and rose to Assistant City Editor, City Editor, and Managing Editor before being appointed in 1980 as Editor and Vice President of The Albuquerque Tribune, also a Scripps-Howard newspaper.

In Albuquerque, he initiated numerous civic programs including citations for city beautification and cash awards to distinguished teachers. He was a founding member of the New Mexico Natural History Museum.

After retirement, Bill moved to Fort Myers in 1987, and lived variously at Caloosa Yacht & Racket Club, The Forest and The Landings and often spent summers in Rocky River, Oh. After moving to Cypress Cove in 2004, Bill wrote and produced a quarterly literary gazette called "Off the Shelf” distributed to Cypress Cove residents and friends and he contributed occasional pieces to the Fort Myers News-Press.

His wife, Rusty Brown, is a former newspaper columnist and

actor who performs original one-act plays based on the lives of remarkable women. His first marriage to Angela Graziani ended in divorce in 1967.

(Other) Survivors are sons Douglas (Lynne Davis) and Russell (Linda Pinnone), grandchildren Silas, Leah, Adrian and Ariana and great­ grandchildren Georgia Lu, Richard, Evelyn and Lucille. He is predeceased by his son Claude.