Ronald Eugene Dillman

Former Publisher of USVI Daily News Dies

The former publisher of a tiny newspaper in the U.S. Virgin Islands, who helped guide it to a prestigious Pulitzer Prize for Public Service in Journalism, has died. Ronald Eugene Dillman, 88, quietly passed away Wednesday night, April 5, at a care facility in Fort Myers, Florida. He had been suffering Alzheimer's disease for the past several months.

Dillman was appointed executive editor of The Daily News of the U.S. Virgin Islands in 1980 and later was promoted to publisher. It was as publisher in 1995 when the paper, which had a circulation of 16.400 and 18 full-time editors and reporters, garnered the Pulitzer for Public Service, the most distinguished level of the Pulitzers.

The Daily News, then a Gannett newspaper, was honored for a 10-part series on crime, "Virgin Island Crime: Who's to Blame?" The series, which initiated many reforms, described a police department that seldom caught criminals, prosecutors who seldom won cases, judges who handed out light sentences and a narcotics force inundated with corruption.

Penny Feuerzeig, then the paper's executive editor, pointed out that the objective of the series was to explain why the Virgin Islands treated crime so hospitably. Melvin L. Claxton, the lead reporter and writer in the series, said a police evidence room was so disorganized that evidence disappeared routinely.

Both Feuerzeig and Claxton talked about their experience working with Dillman.

"Ron was an absolutely terrific boss," Feuerzeig said. "Never in the time that I was executive editor did I ever remember him saying no to running a story. We were partners in fighting corruption, and the crime was corruption at all levels. There were no sacred cows. It didn't matter who you knew, we tried to be the voice of the community.

"Ron has been missed since he left The Daily News. I am grateful for the years in the trenches, and the many years as my boss."

Said Claxton: "Ron Dillman had one of the most difficult jobs in journalism, managing an aggressive investigative newspaper in a small, close-knit community. Many targets of the newspapers' investigators were his friends, associates and advertising clients. They often gave him an earful and threatened to pull ads.

"But Ron navigated the demanding media landscape and allowed reporters, editors and photographers to tell their stories that held community leaders and powerbrokers to account. Despite the daily pressures, he ultimately always sided with good journalism. He made his community better, and there can be no higher praise for a journalist."

Another person who worked closely with Dillman was Mike Coleman, former Gannett senior vice president and head of the group Dillman worked in. "Ron and I had a variety of connections, as execs first in Illinois and then when he was publisher of The Daily News. One could always count on Ron for news integrity, creativity and commitment to the newspaper, his customers and employees."

Ron Dillman was born March 7, 1935, in Danville, Ill., the son of Max and Mildred Dillman. He graduated in 1953 from Ridge Farm Township School, where he was active in all sports. He attended Earlham College in Richmond, Ind., where he first exhibited a keen interest in--and flair for--journalism as a reporter for the college newspaper, The Palladium. He then attended the University of Illinois' College of Journalism.

He joined in 1958 the Danville Ill., Commercial-News, also then a Gannett newspaper, and spent the next 22 years there, working his way up from general reporter, sports editor, city editor, columnist and executive editor. While in Danville, he married the former Diana Walker of Henning. Their marriage ended in divorce. She lives in Naples, Fl.

He moved to St. Thomas in 1980 as executive editor of the Daily News. Throughout his tenure there, he complained about allegedly corrupt politicians and police. That disgust led The Daily News to begin its investigations into the corrupt politics and police there.

Dillman married Lorna Quamina in St. Thomas in 1985. He adopted her daughter, Tiffany, soon after their marriage. Lorna and Dillman divorced in 1991. Dillman continued to be close to his daughter throughout his life. He is survived by Lorna, Tiffany, Tiffany's two children, Alexzander and Trista, all of Virginia Beach, Va.,as well as his brother, Terry, and his wife, Susan, who live in La Quinta, CA. Dillman was predeceased by a sister, Melba Cormaney, of Nashville, TN, in 2019.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.kiserfh.com for the Dillman family.