William T. Clew, a reputable journalist who worked for the Catholic Free Press and the Telegram & Gazette for many years, passed away. He was ninety-four years old.
Raised from reporter in the Fitchburg bureau to news editor of The Evening Gazette, Clew is a newspaper editor’s son.
He won the respect of newsroom personnel as well as the admiration of readers along the way. He shaped several reporters’ careers by hiring and training them, sharing his passion for the field.
Elizabeth (Betsy) Clew Kampmeinert of Pittsburgh, his sister, reported that he passed away early on Monday morning at the Jewish Healthcare Center in Worcester. She stated that there will be a funeral in January. He departs from Patty Biron, a dear friend of many years.
“Bill Clew was both imposing and down to earth, an editor and father figure, a guy who always put the reader first and drummed into our young heads that journalism isn’t always about Watergate-level scoops, but about the communities we cover and the people who inhabit them,” former T&G columnist Dianne Williamson said in a 2018 interview about her mentor. He taught me so much, and I will always be appreciative of his advice.
Clew, of Dudley, proudly shared his start date of October 3, 1954, in the Fitchburg bureau above the Saxon Theater, where he worked for 37 years as a reporter and editor for the T&G. After that, he worked for the Catholic Free Press for more than 20 years.
In 2018, he was admitted to the New England Newspaper Hall of Fame.
