Former National Press Foundation board chair Jerry Warden Friedheim passed away January 20, 2024 in Sterling, VA. He was 89.

Friedheim, who was NPF board chair 1988 to 1990, pursued and supported journalism at both the start and the end of his career.

He earned a bachelor of journalism degree in 1956 and a masters in 1962 from the University of Missouri, Columbia, where he taught journalism in 1961 and 1962. In his early career, he was a newspaper reporter, photographer and editor for the Neosho (Mo.) Daily News, The Joplin Globe and Columbia Missourian and also worked for the Associated Press.

Friedheim came to Washington as a congressional fellow of the American Political Science Association after receiving an APSA award for his coverage of the 1962 congressional elections. He then worked as a press secretary and assistant to former U.S. Rep. Durward G. Hall, R-Mo., and to former U.S. Senator John G. Tower, R-Texas. He began working at the Pentagon after his 1969 confirmation and served as assistant secretary of defense for public affairs from 1972 to 1974.

Later he served as general manager and president of the American Newspaper Publishers Association for 16 years and founder of its journal Presstime. He served as chairman of both the Washington Journalism Center and the National Press Foundation and as a director of the World Press Freedom Committee.

In 1992, Friedheim joined the Freedom Forum Foundation and guided the development of The Newseum in Washington, D.C., becoming its founding executive director. After his retirement in 1999, he served on The Newseum’s advisory board.

He is survived by his wife, Jacqueline Wade Grant Friedheim, three children, seven grandchildren, and two great-grandsons.