Claremore has lost one of its favorite sons.

Dave Story, retired publisher of the Claremore Daily Progress, died Wednesday evening, following a short battle with pancreatic cancer.

Not since the likes of Will Rogers has a personality carried such a vibrant and influential voice from Northeast Oklahoma. He served as Daily Progress publisher from 1986 until he retired in 2006.

Story, 78, a veteran Oklahoma newspaper editor, publisher, and columnist, was born in the small rural community near Lost Lake in the northern part of Tunica County, Miss., on July 22, 1930. He was born James David Story, the fifth son and eighth child of Benjamin and Mary Bruce Story.

Counting his military service, Story’s newspaper career spans 51 years, 31 of them as a community newspaper publisher with the Donrey Media Group.

In 1986 when the Claremore Progress was acquired by Donrey from Ed Livermore Sr., Story was appointed by Donrey founder and owner, the late Donald W. Reynolds, to be newspaper’s publisher.

In July 1998 when Donrey sold its Oklahoma newspapers to Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc., Story remained with the Claremore Progress as publisher, where he was one of Oklahoma’s oldest active publishers.

In 37 years as an Oklahoma publisher, newspapers under Story’s leadership won 180 United Press, Associated Press and Oklahoma Press Association awards, many of them for his personal columns and editorials.

Story was married to Claudia Ann Thomas of Liberal, Kan., in 1978. They have a daughter, Tamra Beth.

During his Oklahoma career, Story served on a number of state boards and commissions under appointment by five different governors.

While at Guymon, he was named to the Oklahoma Educational Television Authority by Governor David Boren. At the time, OETA could be viewed in only a the peripheral area of central Oklahoma. By 1979 OETA’s signal had been expanded by microwave to reach 96 percent of the state.

In 1984 he was reappointed to a second 8-year term by Governor George Nigh.

Also during the late 70s and early 80s he held a position as the Oklahoma State Chamber of Commerce’s “Key Man” in Northwestern Oklahoma.

In 1995 the Oklahoma Press Association honored Story with its coveted Beachy Musselman Award for outstanding contribution to newspaper journalism.

In 1997 he was named to the Jefferson Fellowship at Rogers University, the highest honor that can be bestowed on any individual by the University. The award cited his efforts toward the transition of the two-year school into a four-year, degree granting institution.