Former Journal publisher Matz dies

By RON LARSEN

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- Roger Matz, former publisher of The Journal who died Saturday in a Rochester hospital following a two-year battle with lung cancer, was remembered here as a "really neat guy" who broadened the scope of the newspaper.

Matz, 65, started his newspaper career on his hometown newspaper, the Waterloo (Iowa) Courier, working first as sportswriter, later as reporter, assIstant state editor, farm editor and chief of the Courier's Cedar Falls news bureau.

After leaving Waterloo, Matz worked in management positions for 14 years with Mickelson Media, Inc., serving as editor of the Fairmont Daily Sentinel and later, in 1974, as publisher of the New Ulm Daily Journal.

"I remember that one of the things he did was to remove New Ulm from the newspaper's name which was a move to make it more regional rather than just New Ulm," recalled Denis Warta, a friend of Matz.

"He was a very, very astute leader of our paper for quite a few years, and I believe, under his reign, it became a morning paper. He was someone whom I thought very highly of because of his insight into rural life and into small-town living.: I think he really missed New Ulm and didn't want to leave New Ulm when he left," Warta said.

"He was a terrific boss, and he stood behind his employees. He was on the go all the time, a real go-getter. He was the one who named me production manager," Gerri Wilfahrt, who recently retired from The Journal, said of her former boss.

"But he was a real heavy smoker, and I kept telling him he should quit."

From 1980 to 1992, he owned and operated weekly newspapers including the Redfield (S.D.) Press, and four in Iowa at Sibley, Spirit Lake, Milford and Lake Park. He married Diane Liebl Huiras Oct. 22, 1993 in New Ulm..

After a lengthy career as editor and publisher of dailies and weeklies, Matz left the newspaper business in 1992 and formed his own freelance writing firm, Matz Media. He wrote for magazines and corporate clients, produced newsletters and did photography, layout and design. One of his clients was the Allina New Ulm Medical Center for whom he produced a medical news insert which is carried in The Journal.

"I think he did a great job in writing for the medical insert in New Ulm. He gave us some insight as to how dependent we are on good health care and how the New Ulm Medical Center is trying to help us on that road," Warta said.