CUMBERLAND — Jan Alderton’s sharp wit was evidenced by the many sheets of rough news copy he rapidly edited each day.
That high level of professionalism laced through lighter moments where his laugh — all it took to get him started was mention of the “WKRP in Cincinnati” turkey episode — was contagious among reporters in the second-story newsroom at 19 Baltimore St.
Alderton, a paperboy in Cumberland’s South End when he was 12 years old and managing editor of the Cumberland Times-News when he retired in 2015, died Thursday. He was 79.
Throughout his 48-year career at the Times-News, Alderton hired many of us who have worked at the paper, and as a former leader of our family, the pain of his loss runs deep.
“Jan and I were classmates at LaSalle High School, where we graduated in 1964,” said Mike Sawyers, who retired in 2018 as outdoor editor of the Times-News. “Fifteen years later, a chance meeting on Washington Street would bring us back together for 37 years at the Cumberland Times-News.”
That day, Alderton told Sawyers there was an opening for a reporter.
“So I applied,” Sawyers said. “From there on, until his retirement, he was my fellow reporter and then my managing editor. Jan was the finest of humans, having a love for his fellow man that led to his calm steering of a daily newspaper ship, no easy task. I watched many a person, disturbed by something involving the Times-News, enter his office in turmoil and leave in peace.”
Following some of those meetings, Alderton would walk past Sawyers’ desk and say, “The fun never ends,” as he smiled and winked.
“Jan was a stickler for hard-core local news coverage, such as the public meetings of local governments and school boards,” Sawyers said. “His fingerprints upon the city and region are indelible and quite remarkable.”
After high school, Alderton attended Allegany College of Maryland and Frostburg State University.
According to his obituary, he began working as a proofreader at the Times-News in 1967, became a City Hall reporter in 1969 and covered the Maryland General Assembly in Annapolis in the 1970s.
“He worked in virtually every newsroom position over the years, including brief stints as a sports reporter and editorial page editor,” the obit stated.
Alderton was managing editor from 1987-1992 and again from 1999 until his retirement in 2015. He was editorial page editor from 1992-1999.
Ron Monahan was publisher in the late 1990s when he named Alderton as managing editor of the paper.
“I just loved him,” Monahan, who retired in 2010, said Friday. “I couldn’t say enough about him.”
During the time he and Alderton worked together, the paper published roughly 34,000 copies each day of the week.
“It was quite a ride and especially rewarding with Jan being my editor,” Monahan said.
Alderton left a lasting positive impression on many folks who worked for and with him.
Times-News Managing Editor John Smith credits Alderton for his career in journalism.
“Jan hired me out of college as a police reporter and allowed me to experience every facet of the business,” Smith said. “He was a true newspaperman who treated his staff fairly and he loved the community.”
Times-News Publisher Chip Minemyer said Alderton was clearly respected by his staff and revered in the community for his many years of service to Cumberland and the surrounding area.
“We connected right away through our proximity — Jan in Cumberland and me in Johnstown — and our shared passion for local news,” he said. “We exchanged ideas and supported each other’s work and operations, and we became friends. I was blessed to have known Jan and to have crossed paths with him at the Times-News.”
Mike Burke, former Times-News sports editor, said Alderton was devoted to the newspaper for most of his life.
“He loved the Times-News. He loved newspapers. He loved the idea and the idealism of it all. He loved the truth,” Burke said. “More than anything, he loved his family, and he loved us. But we loved him more. Or so we thought.”
Burke said Alderton was one of the kindest and most honorable men he’d ever known.
“He was the most wonderful friend a guy could have — even when we seriously disagreed, which we did quite a bit,” Burke said. “But that was the beauty of him. He was a great man. He was a newspaperman. He loved it.”
Ed Mullaney was a Cumberland downtown manager from 1998 to 2013 and today co-chairs Let’s Beautify Cumberland!
Alderton loved his community and had an open-door policy, Mullaney said.
“He made it feel personal when you came in,” Mullaney said of visiting Alderson’s office to pitch a story idea. “He was a real pillar of the community for many years with his editorial expertise.”
Mike Mathews, former Times-News sportswriter, said Alderton loved newspapers, in Cumberland and the industry itself, and it showed.
“He was a real newsman and a professional in all that he did,” Mathews said. “He had good relationships with all of us, encouraged us, cared about us, and had a great sense of humor. Made me feel like a valuable part of the team from day one as a part-time intern in high school.”
Those things you never forget, Mathews said and added Alderton was a great man.
“I feel very fortunate to have known him, worked with him and worked for him,” he said.
Retired city/copy editor Debbie Meyer said her fondest memory of Alderton was the day he interviewed her in March 1988 for a position at the Times-News.
“Jan made me feel comfortable from the start and I left our meeting with a great deal of confidence,” Meyer said. “I appreciate the effort he took in making sure I did well just starting out in the newspaper industry.”
Todd Bowman was a teenager in the early 2000s when he first worked at the Times-News as an evening obituary clerk. Today, he’s a correspondent for the newspaper.
“(Jan) always had time to talk or answer questions. I remember him sitting at his desk, often playing with a #2 pencil or tapping it against the desktop while he talked,” Bowman said. “In the evenings, after many of the day reporters had left, he would close his office door quietly, with his hat under his arm, walk around the newsroom and say goodbye to everybody, and head down the Mechanic Street steps.”
Kevin Kelly is a former member of the Maryland House of Delegates who represented District 1B in Allegany County from 1987 to 1995 and 1999 to 2015.
He said Alderton was a cherished, close friend he always admired and deeply respected.
“As a longtime reporter and thereafter editor of the Cumberland Times-News, Jan always personified the word ‘integrity,’” Kelly said. “Jan played it straight, thoroughly researching all sides of an issue before sending the story to print.”
Alderton “was a truly wonderful person who loved reporting on Allegany County, and who will be dearly missed,” Kelly said.
Former Allegany Magazine Editor Shane Riggs said Alderton hired him for that position in 2005 and again in 2014.
“Jan knew how to balance family with his career,” Riggs said. “He was always fair and honest and ethical.”
Steve Bittner is a retired Times-News photographer who today freelances for the paper.
“Jan always liked getting me out in the middle of the night for stuff,” Bittner said fondly of covering early-hour breaking news. “Whenever I had a question about something, he always had the answer. It was great to work with him. He took our jobs very seriously.”
As a teenager in the 1970s, Bill Derlan delivered the Times-News when Alderton supervised him and other South Cumberland carriers.
Alderton in 1985 hired him as a full-time obit clerk, features writer and taught him to prepare news releases for print.
Roughly two years later, Alderton made Derlan a general assignment reporter followed by a copy editor from 1991 until his retirement in 2021.
“(Jan) was a great teacher,” Derlan said. “He was my boss but I also considered him my friend … I have him to thank for a 36-year newspaper career.”
Jack McMullen started work in the Times-News business office in 1960 and left as the paper’s publisher in 1987.
He recalled Alderton’s work as a reporter.
“He was very accurate and you’d never detect which direction he was going,” McMullen said of Alderton’s unbiased articles.
“Jan and I remained close when I left,” McMullen said. “I just really appreciated everything about him. He was a reliable, very decent person … just such a good guy.”
Davey Martin graduated with Sawyers and Alderton from LaSalle in 1964, and worked as a printer at the Times-News for roughly 50 years.
“Jan was just a nice, humble, trustworthy, loyal person,” Martin said and added Alderton didn’t get his feathers ruffled and remained calm no matter the situation. “Jan respected everybody.”
Scarpelli Funeral Home is handling arrangements.