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Longtime Catholic newspaper editor dies
YOUNGSTOWN
Dennis “Denny” Augustine Clarke Finneran, 83, longtime editor of the Catholic Exponent, newspaper for the Diocese of Youngstown, died Wednesday at Wesley Health Care Center, Saratoga Springs, N.Y., after an illness.
Born in Columbus on Aug. 6, 1931, Finneran was the son of the late Dennis Augustine Clarke Finneran and Martha Chilcote Finneran May. He served from 1950 to 1953 during the Korean conflict in the Air National Guard of Ohio, 166th Fighter Bomber Squadron.
In 1956, he married the former Martha Fetter, his wife of 49 years.
Finneran attended Ohio State University and graduated from Youngstown State University with a bachelor’s degree in 1971.
After working as editor of the Catholic Times in Columbus, Finneran moved to Youngstown in 1962 to become a reporter for the Catholic Exponent. His work in promoting the paper was recognized with awards from the Catholic Press Association.
In 1973, he became news editor of the Exponent. He was appointed editor and associate publisher in 1986, a post he retained until his retirement in 1995. He later moved to Saratoga Springs.
Finneran was well-known for his dedication to the Catholic Church as well as for providing accurate, balanced coverage of the Church. He took satisfaction in his participation in the 1965 march on Selma, Ala., for civil rights, which he also wrote about.
Finneran served on the National Advisory Council for the U.S. Catholic Bishops. He received the Columbus Catholic Interracial Council Saint Martin de Porres award for his editorial describing the plight of migrant workers.
Besides his parents, he was preceded in death by his wife, Martha, his second wife, Kathleen (Lippiello), brothers Richard, Theodore, Eugene, and his sister Mary Catherine Finneran Miller.
He leaves his wife, Judy (O’Connor) Finneran whom he married in 2013; sons Matthew (Jan), Clarke (Jill) and Mark (Celine Reynaud); daughters Kathleen (Charles) Rainier, Mary (Craig) Turza, and Elizabeth (Jeff) Kollar, 13 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
A Mass of Christian burial will take place at 2 p.m. Wednesday at St. Columba Cathedral, Youngstown. Friends may call from 1 to 2 p.m. at the cathedral. Burial will follow at Resurrection Cemetery in Austintown.
The family asks that material tributes take the form donations to Kids Grieve Too, Third Floor, First Presbyterian Church 201 Wick Ave., Youngstown, OH 44503.