Womack Publishing Chairman Zan Womack dies at 71

Charles A. “Zan” Womack Jr. of Danville, Virginia, died Aug. 4, following a brief illness. He was a member of the National Press Club for 36 years and served on the board of directors of the Virginia Press Association.

Zan Womack, 71, owned the Star-Tribune in Chatham, Virginia, the Caswell Messenger in Yanceyville, North Carolina, and 13 other weekly newspapers in Virginia and North Carolina. As chairman of Womack Publishing Company Inc., he will be remembered as a true newspaperman who dedicated his life to small-town, community papers.

Womack loved newspapers, especially small-town newspapers, and always believed that a newspaper is the heart and soul of a community. His advice to reporters and editors was to get more faces and names in the paper because he said that’s what readers want. He once told an editor, “We're all local, all the time,” and cared deeply about serving the readers of his newspapers with the latest news and advertising information from their communities.

Womack will be remembered for his commitment to the Womack Foundation, a philanthropic organization started by his late parents, Charles and Estelle Womack. Over the years, the foundation has supported a number of worthy causes, including parks and community centers, swimming lessons and summer camps for children from low-income neighborhoods, and scholarships for deserving students.

When he wasn’t working in his Chatham office or visiting newspapers, Womack enjoyed playing golf and traveling. He and his wife, Bobbye Raye, who is an integral part of Womack Publishing, recently traveled with the National Press Club on its March 2014 Trip to Myanmar, Hanoi, and Angkor Wat.

In addition to the Star-Tribune in Virginia, Womack Publishing includes the Altavista Journal, Times-Virginian in Appomattox, the Union-Star in Brookneal, Smith Mountain Eagle, South Hill Enterprise, Independent Messenger in Emporia, Brunswick Times-Gazette in Lawrenceville, and the News Progress in Chase City. North Carolina papers include the Lake Gaston Gazette-Observer in Littleton, Mebane Enterprise, News of Orange in Hillsborough, Montgomery Herald in Troy, and Warren Record in Warrenton.