“Yesterday, the marker lights on Harry Meem's caboose faded into the distant night, and I will miss him.”   

Dr. Robert Stringer

 

Mr. Harry Cloriviere Meem, III passed away on Monday, May 18 at Silverado Memory Care in Frederick, MD.  “Clo” as he was known to family, friends, and classmates, was born on July 28, 1941 to Harry C. Meem, Jr. and Frances Spickler Meem.  He was predeceased by his wife Margaret R. Meem in 2009.

    

He is survived by his daughter and caretaker Reagan Lael Meem of New Windsor, grandchild Thomas L. Scott of Hagerstown, brother Ross L. Meem, and spouse Teresa of Dickerson and several cousins.

 

Clo graduated from Poolesville High School in 1959.  It was there that he developed a penchant for the field of journalism, having been on the staff of the school newspaper, “The Reflector”. His higher education began at Washington and Lee University where he obtained a Bachelors Degree in Journalism in 1963.  From there he went on to West Virginia University, obtaining his Masters in Journalism.  It was at WVU that he met his future wife, Margaret Reagan.  After their marriage in 1965, they moved to Richmond, Virginia where Harry began a forty-four year career on the editorial staff of the Richmond Times-Dispatch newspaper, working the 4 to midnight shift.  

 

As a journalist, H. Meem led a professional life that was substantive and colorful in equal measures.

 

Fueled by two common tools of the trade in his era -- black coffee in a mug that was occasionally rinsed, and unfiltered Pall Malls that were regularly replenished – H. Meem served for decades as national and international news editor for The Times-Dispatch. In that demanding role, he monitored and evaluated reports from around the world, often assessing a half-dozen stories from varied news services that were covering the same event or geography. At 2 in the afternoon or 2 in the morning, he could astutely identify a compelling angle from one source and blend it with complementary elements from others, creating a single, seamless account -- often bylined "From Wire Reports" -- that gave Times-Dispatch readers insight into global affairs.

 

Those reports filled the large front section -- the A-section -- of each day's edition, which hundreds of thousands of readers might use as their primary source of domestic and world coverage. H. Meem's news judgment gave shape to how his editor colleagues at the Copy Desk shaped the individual pieces, and he would work closely with designers to identify where each report should appear within the section to further convey the weight he assigned to the news of the day. 

 

H. Meem was a key voice at daily meetings of newsroom leaders to determine which stories -- local or beyond -- would appear on the front page of The Times-Dispatch. He commonly would park himself in a corner of the conference room and offer a simple utterance -- “Garbage!" was a printable one -- when asked what he thought of a particular story's prospects for prime front-page real estate.

 

Behind the exterior, though, was a heartfelt commitment to high journalistic standards and the new generations that would carry them forward. In addition to guiding numerous young and veteran editors at The Times-Dispatch, H. Meem taught generations of journalism students at Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, about 15 miles north of downtown Richmond. As an instructor, his focus on the craft of editing as well as the importance of critical thinking reflected the balance of skill he applied to his own work. 

 

He famously used the term “hold the presses” on the night of the 2000 Gore-Bush presidential election when the staff wanted to call a win for Gore.  

 

Having been born into a family of railroad employees, both of his grandfathers and an uncle, along with living next to the railroad tracks in Dickerson, he developed a passion for things railroad.  Amid the demands of his career, H. Meem found time for simple passions that he enjoyed sharing with others. These included train watching and building model railroads. H. Meem was especially known for his scenery work and drew much of his inspiration from the B&O railways of Maryland and West Virginia. 

 

He became a member of the B&O Railroad Historical Society.  His journalism background helped when he served on the editorial staff of the organization’s magazine, “The Sentinel”.  A long suffering “horse show Dad” to his daughter Lael in the 1980s, H. Meem also put his journalism background to work when he wrote a series of articles about being a “horse show Dad” for the publication “The Chronicle of the Horse.”

 

H. Meem also enjoyed raising tomatoes in his backyard, as well as roses and tulips. One of his other joys was his enduring love of hockey. In 2018, a decade after his retirement, Meem saw his beloved Washington Capitals raise the Stanley Cup for the first (and only) time. He emailed a longtime colleague with another simple utterance: "Yes.”

 

Per his wishes, he will be cremated.  There will be no viewing or services.  He will be inurned at the family gravesite in Monocacy Cemetery, Beallsville, MD at a later date.  Condolences are welcomed on the Hilton Funeral Home (Barnesville, MD) website.

 

Finally, these words would not be complete without mentioning H. Meem’s lifelong love of dogs, who were his constant companions over the years.  His favorite breed was ‘rescue’, and he was always prepared to support local rescues when he had an opportunity.  In honor of his passion for rescues, his wish was that donations may be made in his memory to a dog rescue organization of your choice.