Grumhaus, Harold F.

Harold F. Grumhaus Soundex Code G652

Harold F. Grumhaus, 96, (1903-1999)

Harold F. Grumhaus, a former executive of the Tribune Company who began his career as a loyal lieutenant of the legendary publisher Robert R. McCormick and later helped dismantle some of his conservative mentor's political and managerial legacy at the company and its flagship newspaper, died Saturday, May 29, 1999, at his home in Naples, Florida. He was 96.

Mr. Grumhaus, who joined the Tribune Company as head of the insurance department in 1934, moved seven years later to the production end of the business. Among his duties were labor relations, which became crucial when trouble developed with the International Typographical Union in 1947 and 1948.

According to a recent account in The Chicago Tribune, the resulting strike forced early deadlines on the newsroom, contributing to one of the best-known bloopers in newspaper history. Instead of waiting for most of the election returns, the editors decided to declare Thomas E. Dewey the winner of the 1948 Presidential race in time for the strike-imposed deadlines. At a subsequent victory rally, the real winner, Harry S. Truman, gleefully brandished the paper that read Dewey Defeats Truman.

When McCormick died in 1955, according to Clayton Kirkpatrick, The Tribune's former editor, he left his possessions, including The Tribune -- he was very careful about it -- so that the people he considered his trusted lieutenants would be in charge. One was Mr. Grumhaus, then the production manager.

Mr. Grumhaus became business manager in 1960, when executives of both of the Tribune Company's two largest newspapers -- The Chicago Tribune and The Daily News in New York City -- had major roles in the company. Led by Mr. Grumhaus, Mr. Kirkpatrick said, Chicago Tribune executives gradually assumed most authority over corporate strategy.

In 1964, Mr. Grumhaus became general manager of The Tribune, and in 1966 he became president of the Tribune Company. In 1969, he became publisher of The Tribune.

Mr. Kirkpatrick, who became editor shortly thereafter, said Mr. Grumhaus backed him in disputed decisions to split with the McCormick legacy, such as removing political cartoons from the front page.

In 1971, Mr. Grumhaus was named chairman and chief executive of the company. He stepped down as publisher in 1973, as chairman and chief executive a year later and as a director in 1977. He later moved to Florida with his wife, Helen Dean Grumhaus, who died in 1984. He married Margaret Austin Rodgers of Naples, Florida in 1988.

In addition to his second wife, Mr. Grumhaus is survived by a son, David Grumhaus of Lake Forest, Illinois; a sister, Evelyn Parker of Clearwater, Florida; eight grandchildren, and 12 great-grandchildren.