George McClellan Ewing, Jr., newspaperman, educator, and philanthropist, died Saturday, July 12, 2025, in Minneapolis, MN. He was 72.
During a multifaceted life, Mr. Ewing was the beloved owner and Publisher of Messenger Post Newspapers, a tough but fair high school teacher of American literature, poetry, and economics, a sports writer, a ranch hand, an involved community leader, a generous supporter of charitable causes, a hockey and lacrosse coach, and a dedicated husband, father, brother, uncle, and friend.
Mr. Ewing was born in New York City on September 23, 1952, to George and Marie-Merrill (Hubbard) Ewing, Sr. After living in White Plains, New York and Mountain View, California, Mr. Ewing’s father purchased the Daily Messenger in Canandaigua, New York in 1959 and moved his young family back across the country to run it. Mr. Ewing attended high school at Williston Academy (now the Williston Northampton School) in Easthampton, Massachusetts, then graduated from Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio with a degree in English and a minor in Economics.
After college, he quickly embarked on his journalism career. After covering the United States Congress in Washington, D.C. for a company that published a condensed version of the National Record, he returned to Canandaigua in 1976 for his first stint at the Daily Messenger as a sports writer, bravely risking life and limb to bring as much good reporting as possible to his high school sports columns.
Mr. Ewing left reporting in 1979 to develop his second vocation, teaching, over the following decade, first at his high school alma mater and later outside of Minneapolis at Breck School in Golden Valley, Minnesota, where he taught English, American history, and economics. During his time teaching, Mr. Ewing was driven by his fascination with the development of American culture and the human experience. In his classes on American literature, poetry, and a self-designed American Studies course which blended history, art, and social commentary, he encouraged students to analyze poems or stories not just as standalone pieces, but as fitting within a broader socio-cultural landscape.
After a decade of teaching, Mr. Ewing returned to the “Daily Mess” to begin his training as a publisher, starting as Assistant Publisher in 1988 and taking over as Publisher when he purchased the business from his father in 1993. During the following decade, he transformed the Daily Messenger from a single daily paper into Messenger Post Newspapers, a regional standby, by acquiring 10 weekly newspapers in the Rochester area from Wolfe Publications and the family of Samuel J. Smith in 1996 and 1999. Under his leadership, Messenger Post Newspapers became an essential source of news for communities around Rochester and the Messenger was honored twice as the best newspaper of its size by the New York Associated Press, in 2004 and 2006.
He also guided the papers through years of rapid technological change, including the development of an award-winning website. In 2007, facing growing pressures on print media from the internet, he presided over the sale of Messenger Post Newspapers to Gatehouse Media after 47 years of Ewing family ownership. Colleagues remember Mr. Ewing as an even-tempered, fair-minded boss who treated reporters and press operators like family.
Public service was central to Mr. Ewing’s identity. While in Canandaigua, he volunteered with organizations dedicated to both cultural and human causes. He was a board member, including President, of Rochester, NY-based Writers and Books, as it expanded its footprint to launch core literacy and literature programs such as Rochester Reads. He also served on the boards of WXXI, a public broadcasting station, and the George Eastman House (now the George Eastman Museum). He continued the work of Neighbor to Neighbor, a small charitable program of the Daily Messenger that quietly helped people in the community pay their rent, utility, and pharmacy bills.
Following the sale of Messenger Post Newspapers, and after a year teaching back at Williston, Mr. Ewing finally retired to Minneapolis, surrounding himself with friends old and new-particularly the so-called “Superior Institute”, with whom he took trips to the Brule River in Wisconsin and for whom he drove the sag wagon on week-long bike trips. Always holding a deep faith, he became an active member of St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral, not only attending Sunday services but also rolling up his sleeves behind the scenes. As a Sunday school teacher, he led students on pilgrimages across the globe and through adolescence. Through the church’s property committee, he helped keep the historic building and grounds in good repair. He also volunteered with the Dignity Center, showing the same compassion and dedication to helping others that had guided the work of Neighbor to Neighbor.
It was also in Minneapolis that he met his second wife, Rosemary, with whom he shared a dog, Harper Lee, and a vibrant life of laughter, love, and travel.
Mr. Ewing also found profound meaning in the quiet of the wilderness. As a young man he spent two transformative summers working as a ranch hand in the Sunlight Basin of Wyoming. These were times he often described as some of the best, and it took almost no prompting to have him telling stories of waking up early to ride the expansive property, fix fence posts, guide fly fishing trips, and control pesky prairie dogs (he was admittedly a poor shot). No matter how busy he was, he always made time to get outdoors, especially at the Ewing family camp in the Adirondack Mountains of northern New York. It was there that he taught his sons to fish and sail-he was a champion Sunfish racer.
As a long-suffering fan of the San Francisco Giants since boyhood, he rejoiced when they finally won the World Series in 2010 after decades of dashed hopes. He loved traveling for spring training or to watch a game at a new stadium with his personal scorecard and pencil at the ready, and held season tickets with his second team, the Minnesota Twins.
In addition to his wife, Rosemary, Mr. Ewing is survived by three sons from his first marriage of 23 years to Meg Reed: Patrick ’06 (Sonya) of Burlington, VT; Brendan (Kylie) and their children Oscar and Merrill of Brighton, NY; and Cameron of Brooklyn, NY; brother, Thomas ’73 (Caroline ’73) of Keene, NH; niece Claire ’08 of Burlington, VT and nephew Ross ’11 of Boston, MA; and numerous cousins with whom he was close. He was predeceased by his mother, Marie-Merrill Ewing, in 2002; and father, George M. Ewing, in 2009.
George M. Ewing, Jr. moved easily between the realms of words and woods, service and song, and always brought the same kindness and curiosity to all. He loved a good joke, and he wasn’t shy about repeating his favorite George-isms, despite groans from his family who knew what was coming. He had a genuine smile for everyone and a habit of treating strangers like friends, much to his children’s embarrassment. He came upon success by lifting others up, whether by mentoring a young reporter at the Messenger or encouraging a shy student to speak up in class. Those fortunate enough to know him will remember a humble, big-hearted man who was quick with a joke, quick with a helping hand, and quick to share the joy he found in a good story, a good song, or the great outdoors.
Memorial services will be held in Minneapolis and Canandaigua. The Minneapolis service will be held Saturday, September 20, at 10:30 am, following a 10:00 am reviewal, at St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral, 519 Oak Grove St., Minneapolis. The Canandaigua service will be held Saturday, November 1, at 10:00 am at St. John’s Episcopal Church, 183 N. Main St., Canandaigua, followed by a reception at 12:30 pm at Rio Tomatlán, 106 Bemis St., Canandaigua.
To honor Mr. Ewing’s life, and in lieu of flowers, his family and friends suggest donations to the Neighbor to Neighbor Fund in Canandaigua, New York and the Dignity Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
