Sheldon F. Sackett (August 2, 1902 – September 5, 1968) was an American businessman,

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

and newspaper publisher. Sackett owned several media properties in

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

and

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, including ''The World'' in Coos Bay, KVAN in

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

, and KROW in

Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...

. He was responsible for renaming ''The Coos Bay Times'' to ''The World'' in the 1960s.

Personal life

Sackett married Beatrice Walton in Salem in December 1931; they had two children, Marcia and John. Sackett and Walton moved to

Coos Bay Coos Bay is an estuary where the Coos River enters the Pacific Ocean, the estuary is approximately 12 miles long and up to two miles wide. It is the largest estuary completely within Oregon state lines. The Coos Bay watershed covers an area of abou ...

in 1936 to run ''The Coos Bay Times''. Walton died of cancer in May 1947. Sackett married Elizabeth Worthington on January 30, 1950, in

Piedmont, California Piedmont is a small city located in Alameda County, California, United States, completely surrounded by the city of Oakland. Its residential population was 11,270 at the 2020 census. The name comes from the region of Piedmont in Italy, and it me ...

. Worthington later sued for divorce, citing Sackett's "extreme cruelty." In the divorce, Worthington sought custody of an 8-year-old son and a portion of Sackett's estimated $3.6 million in properties. She also requested an order to prevent Sackett from selling any more of his properties. Sacket died September 5, 1968, in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

and is buried at the Albany Masonic Cemetery in

Albany, Oregon Albany is the county seat of Linn County, Oregon, and is the eleventh largest city in that state. Albany is located in the Willamette Valley at the confluence of the Calapooia River and the Willamette River in both Linn and Benton counties, jus ...

Business

In 1928, Sackett and Earl F. Brownlee bought the Salem ''

Statesman Journal The ''Statesman Journal'' is the major daily newspaper published in Salem, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1851 as the ''Oregon Statesman'', it later merged with the ''Capital Journal'' to form the current newspaper, the second-oldest in Orego ...

''. Sackett was managing editor of the paper. Later, he was publisher of ''The World'' and continued buying and selling media properties. In December 1944, Sackett was publisher of the

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

-based ''Olympic Press''. That same year, he purchased KROW for $250,000. In 1947, Sackett bought the

Vancouver, Washington Vancouver is a city on the north bank of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington, located in Clark County. Incorporated in 1857, Vancouver has a population of 190,915 as of the 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest city in Was ...

''Sun'', the ''Seattle Star'', a weekly Portland newspaper, and a million dollar printing plant in Portland. Sackett ran out of money a few months later and subsequently sold the Portland and Seattle papers. Sackett tried to buy the Los Angeles Daily News for $1,525,000 in 1954 but allegedly could not come up with the money. In 1959, Sackett reportedly sold KVAN and KROW to Star Broadcasting, Inc. and Don W. Burden of

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...

for $1.9 million.

Personal life

Business

References

Further reading