Obituaries:
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T

TARVER, JACK — former AP board chairman died March 21, 1999 at his Atlanta home. He was 82.

Tarver, who was AP chairman from 1977 to 1983, was described by AP President Lou Boccardi "as a man of wit, charm, and boundless curiosity mixed with a keen business sense of what it took to make a newspaper successful." Boccardi said Tarver was "never without a story to illustrate his point and never without ideas for news stories. He contributed much to The Associated Press."

Tarver began his newspaper career in 1938 at a weekly newspaper in Georgia, the Vidalia Advance. He went on to own a small newspaper and become a columnist at the Atlanta Constitution. He was named assistant to the president of Atlanta Newspapers Inc in 1950 and made general manager of the corporation in 1952. He served as vice president of Atlanta newspapers, president, publisher and vice chairman of the parent company, Cox Enterprises Inc., from 1976 to 1983. He was head of the American Newspaper Publishers Association in 1976-77.

He is survived by his wife, Margaret; a son, Jack Tarver Jr. of Atlanta; a daughter, Margaret Tarver Jason of Jacksonville, Fla.; and four grandchildren.

TASNADI, CHARLES — died Thursday, Jan. 10, 2008 at the age of 82. Here's the Washington-datelined AP obit that moved Jan. 11, written by Randolph E. Schmid, followed by a July 11, 1989 AP story written by Terence Hunt about Tasnadi's return to his native Hungary with the president of the United States.

Jan. 11, 2008

Charles Tasnadi, AP photographer who escaped from communist Hungary, dies

By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Charles Tasnadi, who braved minefields and barbed wire to escape communist Hungary and went on to spend three decades as a top Associated Press photographer, died Thursday following a stroke.

Famed for his skills as a photographer and revered as a great gentleman, Tasnadi was born Karoly Tasnadi on March 1, 1925, in Ajka, Hungary.

During his career, Tasnadi covered seven presidents, including a return to his native land aboard Air Force One, accompanying President George H.W. Bush.

Bush called Tasnadi into a forward cabin on the jet just before landing and told him it was fitting and proper that this was how he should return home for the first time.

On the ground, Tasnadi hid his emotions behind the camera, determined to get good pictures, colleagues recalled.

He also traveled to Cuba more than 40 times, gaining access to Fidel Castro and other leaders of that country. A former editor credited Tasnadi with helping pave the way for AP journalists to return to Cuba.

His dangerous escape from Hungary in 1951, Tasnadi later remarked, "really helped me put a better perspective on deadline pressure."

In winter snow, Tasnadi, his then girlfriend and others escaped to Austria, slipping past guard towers and one border guard who simply looked away, said his daughter, Diana.

Tasnadi later recalled crawling across a minefield, making sure to place his knees and elbows in the same spots as the man ahead of him.

Settled in a refugee camp in Salzburg, Tasnadi married his girlfriend, but they were unable to get into the United States, so they headed to Venezuela, where a cousin lived.

His mother gave him his first camera and he worked for a Hungarian news agency before leaving the country.

In Caracas, he told a taxi driver to take him to the newspaper, launching a long and successful career that included a stint with Time-Life before finally coming to America and joining the AP.
Tasnadi retired in 1996 and while photographing his last White House press conference, President Clinton started a round of applause, thanking him for years of service.

"Charlie was a graceful photographer, a generous colleague and a complete gentleman. The arc of his life tracked the sweep of world history in the 20th century, yet he will be remembered most for a thousand daily kindnesses," said Kathleen Carroll, AP senior vice president and executive editor.

Among the famous photographs Tasnadi made was one of President Johnson displaying his scar to the media following surgery. Others included Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, President Nixon, Soviet Leader Leonid Brezhnev and candid shots of Presidents Clinton and Reagan.

Retired AP photo editor Frank Russell recalled that Tasnadi would never go on assignment unless he had a coat and tie, but would always lose umbrellas.

"He must have owned 50 umbrellas," Russell commented, remembering that Tasnadi would leave them wherever he had been working.

He went above and beyond the call of duty, Russell said, remembering Tasnadi leaving for Cuba loaded down with boxes of film and equipment to share with officials there. "He always got in when others couldn't."

"He had thousands of friends all over the world," Russell said. "Anywhere there were AP photographers, Charlie knew them."
Tasnadi loved winter, which set him apart from most Washington residents. One time when snow shut the city down, he arrived at work on cross-country skis, colleague Wayne Partlow remembered.

The flight from Hungary wasn't Tasnadi's first escape.

At the end of World War II he was among hundreds of Hungarian civilians rounded up by Russian soldiers, he recalled in an AP oral history interview in 2006.

They were being marched out of Budapest and Tasnadi had to step up onto a sidewalk to avoid a burned-out tank.

"There was an open door and that door sucked me in," he said. He ran into a courtyard and then a nearby kitchen where he was able to avoid the pursuing Russians. There, a Hungarian nurse found him, put an unnecessary bandage on his arm with red ink on it to help him escape.

In that interview, Tasnadi recalled his first assignment in the United States -- covering the arrival of the Beatles in New York.
"I saw this incredible screaming of the girls. I thought what in the world is happening? Why? Why are you screaming about four guys?"

Scores of photographers were taking pictures of the Fab Four and Tasnadi decided the best picture would be the Beatles with the crowd of newsmen.

So he walked up on the podium behind the Beatles with a wide-angle lens: "I said I have to show these guys with these funny haircuts and made this picture. And that was a really good one. That was my first picture."

In the same interview, he also recalled a trip to Brazil for a meeting of Latin American presidents.

Before the meeting he went to the beach to take pictures and was invited onto a boat. During the ride, the boat turned over, spilling Tasnadi -- dressed for a diplomatic reception -- into the water. One of his cameras is still there.

By the time he got back to shore he had to run, dripping wet, to the reception and use a spare camera.

While he was setting up his equipment, one of the presidents at the meeting -- he didn't remember which one -- came by and Tasnadi apologized for his mess.

"Oh son, I am not worrying as long as you don't blow up my office," the president said, laughing.

Tasnadi was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2006 and underwent surgery and chemotherapy before suffering a recent stroke.

He is survived by his widow, Maria, and his daughter, both of Washington. A funeral Mass is scheduled for Tuesday.
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On the Net:
http://www.whnpa.org/join/inmemoriam.htm

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Jan. 11, 2008

Photographer made an emotional return to homeland during presidential trip


EDITORS -- This story originally moved on July 11, 1989, when photographer Charlie Tasnadi returned to his native Hungary with the president of the United States. Tasnadi died Thursday night.

By TERENCE HUNT
AP White House Correspondent

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) --"Moment of truth," Charles Tasnadi said to himself, peering out the window of Air Force One as it landed here Tuesday (July 11, 1989).

Thirty-eight years after he fled his homeland, crawling through minefields and struggling through heavy snow, Tasnadi came home to Hungary with President Bush.

He had left as a 25-year-old man, fleeing a communist dictatorship. He came back as a 64-year-old naturalized American, an Associated Press photographer covering the first visit by a U.S. president to Tasnadi's homeland.

"If I won $1 million, I wouldn't feel better," Tasnadi said on the two- hour flight from Warsaw.

When Air Force One landed, Tasnadi hurried off the plane and jumped down the last two steps to the ground. He threw his hands above his head, clenched fists in victory.

He repeated the gesture as he trotted across the tarmac to be in place to photograph Bush. "Welcome home, Charlie," his colleagues told him.

As he focused his camera on Bush, Tasnadi's hands shook.
His story was well known to Bush, and the president summoned the photographer to a forward cabin on Air Force One to offer his congratulations during the flight.

Tasnadi said Bush had told him that "he was very happy that I was here. He said it was most fitting and proper that I return this way."

The photographer's return was a poignant contrast to the way he had left.

Tasnadi, a championship skier, and his sweetheart, Maria, now his wife, joined a group of six other adults and two children in making their escape from Hungary during the first heavy snowfall of the 1950-51 winter.

He concocted a story about heading for the slopes, telling the truth only to his mother who, by design, would report him missing two days later.

In the freezing cold, the group made its way across the border to Austria. On the final, nightlong leg across the border, Tasnadi carried one of the young children on his back.

Once in Austria, the group struggled to elude Soviet guards in the 50-mile Soviet zone of that nation, and made it to Salzburg several days later.

It was a harrowing trip. The other child, carried by another man, had to be knocked unconscious to keep it from crying and alerting the guards.

"And it was so miserably cold," Tasnadi said. "Twice I fell through the ice up to my chest. I couldn't even feel it."

Unexpectedly on Tuesday, Tasnadi said he was not overwhelmed with emotion when he came back, covering Bush in a downpour at a welcoming ceremony in Lajos Kossuth Square before a monument to the Hungarian hero who fought the Hapsburgs.

"I never covered any presidential act in such a rain outside," Tasnadi said. "I was so overwhelmed with the work and to cover the president that it didn't hit me so deeply as I expected."

"The weather messed up the whole arrival ceremony so there were no national anthems" -- the playing of which Tasnadi had feared would overwhelm him. "I just looked at this place and thought, my God, this is the place where as a small boy, I was standing as honor guard" as a Boy Scout during civic ceremonies.

Tasnadi said he was surprised by the huge turnout of Hungarians, despite the bad weather, to greet Bush.

"It shows how the Hungarian people feel about the United States and this president. This impressed me very deeply."

TATEISHI, KAY — a newsman in the Tokyo bureau of The Associated Press for 29 years until his retirement in 1985, died of heart failure, March 27, 2003. He was 88.

He collapsed at his residence in Tokyo, the family said.

Tateishi, the son of Japanese immigrants, was born in Los Angeles, California and moved to Japan in his youth. During World War II, he worked for the Japanese news agency Domei before joining Time-Life. He began his AP career in 1956.

Tateishi, who covered general news assignments and served as night editor, earned a reputation as the bureau's specialist on historical features. His knowledge of Japanese history and U.S-Japan relations often contributed to AP's coverage.

Tateishi also helped edit a book on the history of The Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan, published in 1998, for which he was awarded a life membership.

Tateishi is survived by his wife Fusako and son Michio.

TEDRICK, DANIEL O. — an editor and correspondent for 38 years with The Associated Press, died, December 29, 2002 at age 74 in Mesa, Ariz. Tedrick died after a long battle with cancer, his son Brock said.

Tedrick, a graduate of Arizona State University, was a reporter and editor with The Arizona Republic and Mesa Journal-Tribune before joining AP in 1952 in Phoenix.

He worked in the Denver and Los Angeles bureaus before being named AP's first correspondent in San Diego, a position he held from 1969 to 1982.

Tedrick then worked as a broadcast writer and editor in the Los Angeles bureau before retiring in 1990. He moved to Mesa after his retirement.

While supervising the broadcast report on the overnight shift in Los Angeles, Tedrick often would stand and yell, "I need news!" said newsman John Antczak, who worked with Tedrick for eight years.

Tedrick also kept and shared with colleagues a scrapbook of important stories he'd written. He often would remark as a particular story happened that it would go in his scrapbook, Antczak said.

Tedrick was born April 27, 1928, in Dayton, Ohio. He served in the Army during the Korean War and as a teenager was a reporter for the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel in Colorado.

He is survived by: sons Brock of Savannah, Ga., Brad of Fallbrook, Calif. and Damon of Bullhead City, Ariz.; a brother, Tom, of Sedona; and six grandchildren.

TEMPLE, WICK — an Associated Press vice president whose four-decade career ranged from newsgathering in the civil rights-era South to leading the AP's sports, news, personnel and newspaper membership departments, died Feb. 1, 2003 in New York.

Temple had been undergoing treatment for throat cancer and was en route to a New York hospital with his wife, Margy McCay, when he died suddenly. It was not immediately known whether the cause of death was related to the cancer.

A smiling, avuncular presence at AP's Rockefeller Plaza headquarters for 30 years, Temple once described the sweeping changes he had seen over his career: "Computerization, digital photos, the Internet ... specialization in journalism that makes AP's news report far better than it used to be."

He was remembered for his own role in many of these changes at the AP.

"He was very, very good at what he did professionally and a very good friend," said Burl Osborne, chairman of the AP board, publisher emeritus of The Dallas Morning News and a colleague of Temple's when Osborne worked at the AP himself. "The AP will miss him very much."

After heading AP bureaus in St. Louis, Helena, Mont. and Seattle, Temple moved to New York and became sports editor in 1973. In that position he directed coverage of such major events as the Olympics, the Super Bowl and the World Series.

In 1980, he was promoted to managing editor, directing day-to-day news operations, and in 1985, he became the AP's first director of human resources. Since 1988, he had served as director of membership, a key position at the AP, a not-for-profit cooperative made up of member newspapers and broadcasters.

"Wick was the newspaper members' advocate at headquarters. He brought four decades as a newsman, a bureau chief, and a senior editor and executive in New York to the task of maintaining the tightest bonds between us and our newspapers. And he did that superbly," said Louis D. Boccardi, AP president and chief executive officer.

"He never forgot the critical role our bureau chiefs play in this, and they will never forget his understanding leadership."

Wick Temple was a second-generation AP newsman. Born Oct. 24, 1937, in Little Rock, Ark., he grew up in Pennsylvania, the son of R.W. Temple, who worked for the AP for 21 years.

Temple began his own news career at age 16 on the Texarkana Gazette, and worked for the Austin American-Statesman while attending the University of Texas. He joined the AP's Little Rock bureau in 1959, during the civil rights struggle.

Later, while running the Seattle bureau and helping to expand AP's coverage of Alaska, he wrote about the building of the Alaska oil pipeline.

Temple's byline was on AP's story about legendary skyjacker D.B. Cooper, who commandeered a plane, parachuted out carrying a briefcase full of money and then vanished.

By coincidence, Temple happened to be at Sea-Tac Airport near Seattle at the time. He recalled later, "I dictated material from Sea-Tac until the plane took off. ... The skyjacker, as everyone knows, bailed out from the tail stairs of the 727, and we had that memorable quote from the FBI that `he's probably screwed into the ground up to his elbows.'"

Colleagues said he drew on his firsthand news experience in all of his later management roles.

One of Temple's duties as membership director was to help oversee creation of AP's multimedia site, The Wire.

Beyond that, said fellow AP executive and friend D. Byron Yake, "Wick was somebody who was truly loved by everyone. He was an endearing person."

In addition to McCay, the AP's director of personnel, survivors include four children from previous marriages, Shawn Temple of Basking Ridge, N.J.; Wick Temple III of Everett, Wash.; Ellen Wallace of Langley, Wash., and Carol Halter of East Aurora, N.Y.; and a sister, Ann Graef of Houston.

Related Stories:
AP vice president for membership dies at age 65
Memorial Service — Audio and slideshows included
Tributes to Wick Temple

THOMAS, WILLIAM WAYLAND — Thomas, Master Sergeant, United States Army, Retired, age 91, of Arlington, Virginia, died on Friday, June 18, 2004 at the Veterans administration Medical Center in Martinsburg, West Virginia.

MSGT Thomas was born September 28, 1912 in Philadelphia, PA, son of the late George and Rose Kendarge Thomas. He served in the U.S. Army from August, 1941 to 1964.

During World War II he was assigned to the Army Communications Center in Hawaii, and thereafter was assigned to the White House Army Signal Agency, later the White House Communications Agency. He was a faculty member at the Department of Treasury Technical Equipment Operator's School in electronics.

In 1961 his service at the White House was recognized by President Eisenhower and in 1964 he was awarded the Presidential Badge and Certificate for his White House service. After leaving the White House he worked for Westinghouse Broadcasting, and then at the National Geodetic Survey. In 1980 he became a contract employee of the Associated Press Broadcast Division. He was known as "BT" to his friends and colleagues.

He was married to the late Doris Cardwell from 1955 until her death in 1960. They had no children. In her memory in 1996, he established The Doris B. Cardwell Fund as a part of the Catholic Relief Services Endowment Fund to benefit the poor and disadvantaged overseas. His contribution exceeded one million dollars. When Catholic Relief set up an annuity for Mr. Thomas he wrote back: I have renounced the payments...I don't need the money. The poor need it more than I."

Mr. Thomas never owned a car. Mr. Thomas worked at Associated Press until he was a month shy of 90 years of age and he usually walked everywhere — even to his office in Washington from Arlington and back.

He served as a volunteer usher at the Old Post Chapel at Fort Myer, VA. Mr. Thomas leaves no known survivors.

THOMASSON, JIM — an AP newsman in Arkansas and Georgia for 26 years, died Nov. 1, 1999 in Fort Valley, Ga. He was 91.

Thomasson worked at several newspapers in Arkansas before joining AP in Little Rock in 1947. He worked there for three years before moving to Atlanta to cover the Statehouse during the 1950s. His later years were spent on the broadcast desk. He retired in 1973.

Survivors include his wife, Betty, two daughters, a stepson and a stepdaughter.

THOMPSON, ROBERT W. JR., — a former Associated Press writer who had recently worked as a freelance writer and editor, died last week of heart failure at his home in Shady Side, Md. He was 51.

Born in Baltimore County, Md., the son of Robert W. Thompson Sr. and Lorene McKinley Thompson, he attended public schools in Dundalk, Md., and was a 1973 honors graduate of Clemson University. He was the editor of Clemson's award-winning student newspaper, The Tiger, and a photographer whose work appeared in South Carolina publications. He helped start Osceola, a political alternative weekly in South Carolina, that was published for a decade.

After a sports reporting job in Anderson, he joined the Associated Press, working in its bureaus in Columbia, Philadelphia, Pa., and Newark, NJ. He covered the South Carolina State Senate for several years and wrote about state politics and government. He resigned in 1989 to help research a book on the Wedtech political scandal.

He later worked as a Washington correspondent for The Greenville News, then became an editor for Business Publishers Inc. in Silver Spring, Md., and for the Society for Human Resources in Alexandria, Va.

As a child, he was a county spelling bee champ who boasted a certificate signed by former Gov. Spiro Agnew. His hobbies included photography, softball and jogging, and he was a lifelong fan of the Baltimore Orioles.

His marriage to Marilyn W. Thompson ended in divorce.

He is survived by two sons, Patrick Cory Thompson and Andrew McKinley Thompson of Deale, Md., and by a sister, Susan Human of Seaford, Del.

THUMMA, BARRY L. — 56, a retired Associated Press photographer who covered four presidents, Nov. 25 in Lancaster, Pa., from complications of multiple myeloma.

In his 20-year career with the AP, he traveled on more than 100 Air Force One flights to photograph Presidents Carter, Reagan, George H.W. Bush and Clinton.

"He was an absolutely focused and dedicated photojournalist," said Robert Daugherty, an AP photo editor who worked with Thumma.

Thumma began his career in 1967 as a part-time photographer for the Lancaster New Era. He joined the AP in 1973 in Cincinnati, where he covered the Reds and the Bengals. Thumma worked in Columbus, Ohio, for two years as the state's photo editor before moving to Washington. He retired from the Washington bureau in 1993 after being diagnosed with cancer.

Daugherty said Thumma kept Lancaster close in his thoughts throughout his Washington tenure.

"He'd say, 'It's interesting, you come from shooting Amish buggies to shooting politicians in limousines,'" Daugherty said.

Survivors include his wife, two daughters, his father, brother and sister.

TRAPP, GERALD — Gerald Trapp, former general broadcast news editor and deputy director of the AP's broadcast department, died Saturday, March 15, 2008, at his suburban Salt Lake City, Utah home, his friends and family said. Jerry Trapp was 75.

Read the family announcement in the Salt Lake Tribune's obituary notices section at http://tinyurl.com/33rbq9

See the March 17, 2008 AP story below.

Former AP broadcast executive, Gerald Trapp, dead at 75

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Gerald Trapp, a former Associated Press broadcast executive, has died. He was 75.

Trapp died Saturday at his suburban Salt Lake City home, friends and family said. A cause was not immediately known.
Trapp began his career in journalism an office boy for the AP in his hometown of St. Paul, Minn., in 1952-1953. He worked as a writer and editor at The Free Press of Mankato, Minn. He returned to The Associated Press in 1957, said daughter Lise Herriott of Sandy.

Trapp wrote broadcast copy and conducted sales for the AP in Denver, Pittsburgh and New York, she said.

During his career, she said Trapp was broadcast executive in charge of sales for the AP east of the Mississippi, general broadcast news editor and deputy director for the AP's broadcast department.

She said her father helped cover some of the most important news events of the 1960s, including the 1968 Democratic convention in Chicago.

"It was fascinating. The news was always on. Anything that happened, he was flipping channels to see who was doing what, and who was doing the best job," she said. "He was (at the AP) so long and he knew so many people in every state in the country. It was a big part of our lives."

Herriott said her father eventually left the AP to take a job in Salt Lake City in 1980 working for the Intermountain Network.

In addition to Herriott, Trapp is survived by his wife, Bente; two sons, seven grandchildren and one great granddaughter. A funeral was planned for Saturday.

TREVINO, MANUEL "TIO" JR., — Some old time retirees might think of Manuel “Tio” Trevino, Jr. as a short-termer with AP. But he left a big imprint on the service and the people he trained and worked with during his eight years in The AP technical service. Born at Kingsville, TX in 1936, Trevino retired to Rio Grande City in 1999. He died June 26, 2003 after a short bout with cancer. He was 66.

“Manny,” as he was known to many, joined AP at East Brunswick, N.J., In 1991 as a technician. Two years later he was a field engineer and in 1996 he was promoted to technical service manager in Cranbury, N.J.

“He was always traveling all around the world, South America, Europe, Australia,” said his daughter Lorie Trevino Goldstein. “I know he went to Cuba when the Pope visited and he worked the Super Bowl when it was held in Tampa.”

“Manny was a good friend and co-worker,” said Todd Craigmile, chief of communications at Columbus.

“He was a mentor to me and many others,” said Roseann Treloar, western regional director for technology services at San Francisco. “I worked mostly with him on the Photo Leafdesk project.”

A U. S. Air Force Veteran, 1956-60, Trevino was an avid fisherman and loved spending time with family and friends. He was buried at Corpus Christi where many relatives live.

His daughter, Lorie Trevino Goldstein of Sugar Hill, GA, said that before joining AP, Trevino worked for Lockheed on a NASA contract in Huntsville, Ala.; for Comp Graphic, then was self employed as president of Manny's Computers Inc., 1984-91. After retiring from AP, Trevino assisted a relative with business ventures, including a feed lot and a specialty lumber milling business.

“He made me a beautiful dining room set — tables, chairs, buffet — and drove it to me from Texas to Georgia just this past November,” daughter Lorie said.

His only grandchild, Jack, was born shortly before Trevino was diagnosed with cancer.

“Jack was the best ‘medicine’ and could always make him smile,” she added. “He called Jack "Grandpa's Boy" or "Meho" (a Spanish term of endearment). We are so fortunate that Dad got to meet and spend time with Jack before he passed.”

Other survivors include a sister, nieces and nephews.