In a style that didn't surprise his friends and colleagues, Patrick Stickel, president of The Oregonian, quietly retired Wednesday from the newspaper where he spent much of his life since moving to Portland in 1967.
Stickel, 59, was the dedicated and hard-driving newspaperman, they say, who shunned acclaim and accolades. A first lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps, Stickel said officer's training helped him realize what he was capable of and gave the New Jersey native the confidence to lead.
After serving in his current role since 1993, Stickel briefly took on the title of interim publisher when his father, Fred Stickel, 88, retired in September.
"As president, Pat Stickel was the best possible steward of The Oregonian, its resources, deep roots in the community and time-honored brand," said Sandy Rowe, who retires as editor of The Oregonian this week. "His leadership in the company and the community enabled the newspaper to flourish and gave the newsroom the resources it needed for robust local coverage."
Stickel moved to Portland with his family when his father became general manager of The Oregonian. Starting in high school, Stickel worked part time proofreading classified ads and later, by way of jobs in circulation and advertising, worked his way up to general manager in 1987. He was named president in 1993.
"He's been involved with every facet of this newspaper except the newsroom," said Tom Whitehouse, the paper's human resources director. "He basically ran this newspaper."
Stickel was tough and direct, colleagues said, but always fair.
"While what appeared in news columns occasionally frustrated him, as it would any business executive, Pat respected the independence needed in a great newsroom and honored that," Rowe said. "He is a class act in every respect and, in good times and bad, demonstrated the courage, integrity and grace under pressure you would expect of the Marine officer he is."
Norm Daniels, former chief executive of Joe's Sports, said he complained a few times about pieces written about his company but always heard the same thing.
"He'd listen, then he'd say, 'There's a separation between advertising and editorial,'" Daniels said. "He was tough, but at the end of the day, all his deals were fair."
Stickel often joined meetings with the newspaper's large advertising accounts -- the poker games, he said, that he most enjoyed. He recalled one in recent years with an electronics retailer who was thinking about taking some of his million-dollar account elsewhere.
"We were both yelling, and the ad director was sitting there shaking," Stickel said. "We kept the account."
Tours with Marines
Stickel left the paper for the Marines twice. In 1968, he enlisted at 18 behind his father's back -- dropping the keys to his motorcycle and a wad of cash with his brother, who told Fred Stickel after Patrick already had left.
"There were 48 hours there when I thought I should have followed my father's advice and gone to college," said Stickel, who didn't end up in Vietnam and ultimately graduated with a business degree from the University of Portland.
After advanced training in 1977, he spent three years as an officer, rising to the rank of first lieutenant. He returned to The Oregonian in 1980 and worked in advertising and as a classified sales representative before heading to New Orleans for a year at The Times-Picayune.
"He was the embodiment of positive attitude and total dedication," said Ashton Phelps Jr., the New Orleans paper's publisher and a mentor of Stickel's. "And he truly cared about the people he worked with."
That was apparent to Ed Tonkin, a longtime friend and Portland car dealer who received a note this week from Stickel, who had e-mailed to say he and wife, Debra Stickel, were thinking of the Tonkins as their patriarch, Ron, headed into surgery Wednesday.
"Always attentive"
"Amid all that he was going through, he took the time," Tonkin said. "He was always attentive to the family side of things."
He also appreciated the arts and its role in the community. Through the years, Stickel served on a variety of boards, including The Oregon Ballet Theatre board and University of Portland's board of regents. He also was chairman of the United Way of the Columbia-Willamette's fundraising campaign in 2003, when it raised $15.2 million.
"In my short time working with Pat, I have come to admire and respect him for his wisdom, his business acumen and his incredible commitment to our company and its people, " said N. Christian Anderson III, who became publisher of The Oregonian this fall.
Stickel wouldn't talk much about what his future holds, sticking to what he sees coming for the newspaper. The industry is working through a systemic change in how items are bought and sold, he said, and a rebounding economy will bring back advertisers to the newspaper's print and Web pages.
"The value of what we're selling has worked for the past 40 years, the past 20 years," he said, "and it still works today."
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