Nangle, former editor of The Times of Munster, has died

MUNSTER, Ind. (AP) – William Nangle, who served 20 years as executive editor of The Times of Munster, has died. He was 70.

Nangle, who in recent years suffered from heart disease and cancer, died Friday at Franciscan St. Anthony Hospital in Crown Point, said a spokeswoman for Geisen Funeral Home.

Nangle worked at The Times for nearly 45 years and served previously as chairman of the Hoosier State Press Association’s Freedom of Information Committee. He was inducted into the Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame in 2011.

“Bill was an absolutely outstanding editor and news executive,” said Mary Junck, chairman, CEO and president of Lee Enterprises, the parent company of The Times.

Nangle helped lead an effort by Indiana’s seven largest newspapers to cooperate on a project that audited all 92 Indiana counties for compliance with state open records laws in the late 1990s. Then-Gov. Frank O’Bannon created the position of public access counselor following that to help solve disputes over open records and open meetings laws and other states created similar positions.

Gov. Mike Pence said Indiana had “lost a legendary journalist whose courage and integrity contributed to the public’s right to know.”

“While our opinions sometimes diverged on public issues, I always knew Bill to be tough and fair, the epitome of a true journalist,” he said.

Nangle started his career in 1964 and worked at newspapers in Marion, Kokomo and Franklin before becoming managing editor of the Bristol (Va.) Herald Courier in 1969. He joined The Times in 1970 as assistant city editor and became managing editor in 1982. He became editor emeritus upon his retirement in 2014.