Joseph B. Ridder; Ex-Publisher in San Jose
Joseph B. Ridder, for many years the publisher of the San Jose Mercury News and a member of one of the nation’s better-known newspaper families, has died in a Honolulu hospital at age 68, it was reported Wednesday.
Ridder, who died Monday, had been hospitalized with complications from emphysema, said his brother, Daniel Ridder, chairman of the Long Beach Press-Telegram.
Ridder was publisher of the Mercury News from 1952 to 1977, during which time the city’s population grew from about 100,000 to more than 600,000 and circulation of the Mercury and News, then separate morning and afternoon papers, grew from 73,000 to 211,000.
He was succeeded by a nephew, P. Anthony Ridder, now president of Knight-Ridder Inc., parent company of the Mercury News and several other newspapers, including the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Miami Herald, the Journal of Commerce and the Detroit Free Press.
Survivors include two brothers. Funeral services are scheduled today in Honolulu.
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