By Scott Brinton
Edith Richner remembered as 'super-mom,' top businesswoman
Describing Edith Richner in a single word is seemingly impossible. More than four decades ago, she co-founded Richner Communications Inc., parent company of Herald Community Newspapers. Family members and friends spoke of her as beautiful, intelligent, forthright, dedicated, friendly, demanding but fair. Above all else, however, she was "selfless," said her son Stuart Richner, who now co-owns RCI with his brother, Clifford.
Edith Richner, of Rockville Centre and Boca Raton, Fla., died last Friday of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a rare brain disorder. She was 79.
Hundreds of mourners, including family, friends, colleagues, elected officials and local business owners, crowded the Central Synagogue in Rockville Centre on Sunday afternoon for Richner's funeral. They came not only to offer their final respects, but also to celebrate the life of a remarkable woman.
Richner dedicated many of her adult years to creating a weekly newspaper group that mattered -- that would take on the issues readers cared about. For Richner, publishing newspapers of integrity and sincerity was of critical importance.
But Herald Community Newspapers, which she published with her husband of 51 years, the late Robert Richner, always took a back seat to ensuring that her family was well cared for, and that her children -- Clifford, Stuart and Donald -- were raised with the values that she held most dear -- honesty, modesty and kindness. "She was a wonderful mother, always encouraging us to do our best in everything we did," said Donald. "She was always ready with helpful advice about any problem we had, and took joy in our successes."
In 1964, when they were both working as accountants, Edith and Robert Richner invested in two struggling community newspapers, the Rockaway Journal and the Nassau Herald, which were published in the Five Towns. The Richners used their business acumen, combined with a keen interest in community affairs and politics, to put the company on a solid financial footing. Then they started to expand.
In 1987, when Robert Richner stepped down as publisher of Herald Community Newspapers and his sons took over, Richner Communications included seven newspapers and a shopper. Nearly 20 years later, the company now comprises the Heralds and the PrimeTime Guides, 26 publications with a combined circulation of nearly 200,000, as well as The Jewish Star. It is the largest paid-circulation weekly newspaper group on Long Island, with a coverage area stretching from Valley Stream to Bellmore and from Long Beach to Rockville Centre. The Heralds have won hundreds of national, state and Long Island Press Association awards in recent years.
RCI recently moved into a state-of-the-art office and printing facility in east Garden City, after a fire destroyed the company's Lawrence headquarters in 2004. Until last month, Edith Richner could be found in the bright new corporate headquarters, attending to the minutest details and overseeing the company's bookkeeping.
Richner was born in the Bronx, the daughter of Rose and Morris Murofchick, Jewish immigrants from Ukraine. She was the first member of her family to attend college, and dreamed of a career in medicine, but at the time the field was virtually closed to women. Instead she studied accounting. After they married, Edith and Robert opened an accounting practice in Lawrence.
When they took on the newspaper business, one of the Richners' most important decisions was to hire Leatrice Slote Spanierman as executive editor of the Nassau Herald, which became RCI's flagship paper. Spanierman came aboard in the 1960s, when women were few and far between in newsrooms and it was almost unheard of for a woman to reach a position of leadership, let alone the top editorial job.
Spanierman presided over the Nassau Herald for 30 years, becoming a close friend of the Richner family. In 2001, when Robert Richner died, she wrote, "Those who worked with the Richners in the early days of their association with the newspapers remember their dedication to learning the business. ... [Robert] and Edith Richner were in the office from early in the morning until early the next morning, day after day, creating their successful enterprise."
This week, Spanierman said, "I always remember Edith's smile, which, even under pressure, communicated that she embraced her profession and those who worked with her. I feel fortunate that she was my colleague, that I had the opportunity to be alongside her as we showed a male-dominated press what women could achieve. She was a part of my life for three decades, and she always will be with me."
At his mother's funeral, Cliff Richner said, "My parents lived a purposeful life. ... To say my mother was an intense businesswoman was an understatement." At the same time, he noted, "She was the original super-mom."
"She was the consummate caregiver," recalled Stuart Richner. "There was always a home-cooked meal and a strong sense of family values. ... She was an example for us, knowing right from wrong."
He added, "She was always there for the grandchildren, but never to the point of spoiling them. ... She was a lady, beautiful inside and out."
Edith Richner was unusually close to her sisters, Evelyn Aaronson and Shirley Kammin. Aaronson, who lived next door to Edith in Boca Raton for 15 years, spoke at her sister's funeral. "My father said we were cut from the same cloth," she recalled. "Edith was my best friend."
Stuart Richner's son Zachary said, "Gorgeous does not begin to describe my grandmother. She was immaculate. ... My nana was incredibly modest. The only time I saw her gloat was about her grandchildren."
"My mother-in-law lived a life with no regrets or complaints," said Stuart's wife, Nancy. "...She was tall in grace and sincerity. She had not a mean bone in her. My mother-in-law was completely embracing."
Rhonda Glickman, RCI's vice president of sales, said, "I can't tell you what a wonderful mentor, a wonderful friend, a wonderful person [she was]. She was just there for every spot in your life."
Jeff Beja, owner of Central Galleries on Central Avenue in Cedarhurst, first met Edith Richner when he opened his now famous gallery in 1985. He was 21 at the time. Richner sold Beja his first newspaper advertisement. "She always had an interest in art," Beja remembered. "She came in herself, even though she had a sales staff. ... She would stop by just to say hello. She was just a lovely person. She was just always a nice, pleasant person. She was always accessible."
For 27 years, Madge Schneider was RCI's receptionist. She was hired by Edith Richner as the company's only classified advertising sales representative. "She taught me what I had to do," Schneider said. "She was always behind me 100 percent. She was very nice to my family. We spoke on a personal level as well as a professional level."
Staff writer Jeff Lipton said, "Ever since I began working at the Nassau Herald in 1994, starting out as a news editor and then as an editor, Mrs. Richner treated me with kindness. I will always remember her as a great woman who was a joy to be around. Her friendly smile and quiet demeanor made it a pleasant experience whenever I saw her."
And Michael Bologna, RCI's vice president of operations, said, "There will be a hole in our hearts and in the [RCI] organization with Mrs. Richner gone."
Richner is survived by her sisters, Evelyn Aaronson of Boca Raton and Shirley Kammin and her husband, Daniel, of Wycoff, N.J.; her children, Clifford, of Manhattan; Stuart and his wife, Nancy, of Rockville Centre; and Donald and his wife, Carole, of Stamford, Conn.; and five grandchildren, Zachary, Gregory, Lucas, Katie and Willie.
Rabbi Marc Gruber, spiritual leader of the Central Synagogue, officiated at the funeral service. Burial followed at Beth Moses Cemetery in West Babylon. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Edith Richner Memorial Fund at F.E.G.S. Partners in Dignity, 6900 Jericho Turnpike, Syosset, N.Y. 11791.
