Ex-Sports Editor Frank Hyde Dies

Frank C. Hyde, 77, sports editor of The Post-Journal for 35 years, died yesterday in Cleveland Clinic.

Family members said he died at 9 p.m. due to post-operative reaction following back surgery. The body has been willed to the Cleveland Clinic Foundation Research Center.

Hyde, of 41 Hunt Road, West Ellicott, retired as sports editor on December 1, 1979, just 10 days before his 73rd birthday. His retirement did not end his association with the newspaper and his long career in journalism. His popular column “Frankly Speaking” continued to run weekly, and Hyde frequently wrote feature articles for the sports section and for The Post-Journal’s Saturday magazine, Tempo.

Hyde was born Dec. 10, 1906 near Jamestown, N.D., and spent his early years in the north central states, where he developed a fascination for the old frontier.

Hyde began his long career as The Post-Journal’s sports editor on March 1, 1945. He previously had worked as assistant sports editor at the Salt Lake City (Utah) Tribune for 18 months and as sports editor of the Billings (Mont.) Gazette for six years. Hyde also worked with newspapers in Minneapolis, Minn., and Portland, Ore.

Hyde had a colorful early life, with his contact with the newspaper industry as a 15-year-old copy boy for the Chicago Tribune one summer.

During the Depression, he rode the freight trains in search of work, finding seasonal jobs following the harvest in the Midwest and the Pacific Northwest.

He was credited with being the youngest man ever to cover a heavyweight fight, after he called in his observations to the Yankton (S.D) Press and Dakotan following the Jack Dempsey-Tommy Gibbons bout in Shelby, Mont.

Hyde also found employment as a railroad section worker in North Dakota, a copper mine worker in Montana, and a relief railroad telegrapher.

He spent part of a summer as a member of a wrestling show on a carnival circuit, taking on all comers. A serious hip injury led to his departure from such competition.

While serving as Post-Journal sports editor, Hyde covered the former Jamestown Falcons in spring training at various Florida sites for a decade. He voluntarily kept statistics and published records for the PONY Baseball League for many years.

Hyde was knowledgeable about all sports, but had a particular love for youth activities and boxing. Although he often was accused of living at the sports desk, he was never too busy to call on his long list of recollections to regale visitors with stories of his experiences.

The veteran newspaperman covered thousands of sports events during his lengthy career, and interviewed scores of sports personalities.

During the years, the long-time sports editor was honored by his peers. He was named “Sports Editor of the Year” for this area in 1969 by Sport Magazine. The New York-Pennsylvania Baseball League also accorded him similar recognition. He was a member of the Chautauqua County Sports Hall of Fame.

Hyde was the recipient in 1980 of the annual Brotherhood Citation of the Jamestown Area Chapter of the National Conference of Christians and Jews.

He was a member of First Baptist Church, and was an honorary member of Chautauqua Lake Yacht Club, and Gerry Fire Department. He was a life member of the National Association of Baseball Writers, and Jamestown YMCA.

Survivors include his wife, Evelyn Young Hyde, a native of Glendive, Ark., whom he married Sept. 6, 1935, In Newport, Ark. They would have celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary next year.

Hyde is also survived by three children: Patsy Loy of Mentor, Ohio, where she is assistant finance director; David H. Hyde, a faculty member at Howard University in Washington, D.C., and a doctoral candidate at University of Maryland; and Thomas F. Hyde, author/publisher of Basketball Times in Auckland, New Zealand; seven grandchildren, and three great grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held at 4 p.m. Sunday at the new First Baptist Church at 358 E. Fifth St. in Jamestown. A reception will follow. The Rev. Charles H. Feiler will lead the service.

The family suggests memorials may be made in his name to the Living Memorial Fund of First Baptist Church, Jamestown.