Nelson E. Dodge

Dec 4, 1901 - Sep 30, 1971

Nelson Dodge, 69. of 626 Northwood Dr, retired tribune circulation manager. died at 5:39 p.m. Thursday in Memorial Hospital after suffering an apparent heart attack in his office at The Tribune. Mr. Dodge had been a fulltime employee of The Tribune for more than 50 years. He started working for The Tribune as a newspaper boy and, on June 1,1918, after graduating from South Bend Central High School, he began working full time in the circulation department.

He became assistant circulation manager in 1925 and was appointed circulation manager in January, 1960. Mr. Dodge retired as circulation manager on Oct. 31. 1969. Since his retirement, Mr. Dodge had been an adviser to circulation departments Tribune newspapers in California, Indiana (excluding South Bend) and working from an office in The South Bend Tribune building.

Mr. Dodge was a member of Westminster Presbyterian Church, a trustee, chairman of the board of trustees, an elder and clerk of sossivns, all of the church. He was a member of the International Circulation Managers Assn., The Central States Circulatión Managers Assn., and the Indiana Circulation Executives Assn.. Mr. Dodge was also a member of St. Joseph Lodge 45, F. &  AM. and the Scottish Rite, Valley of South Bend.

He was born Dec. 4, 1901, in South Bend and had lived here all of his life.

On Sept. 25, 1926. in South Bend, he married Pauline Treesh, who survives. along with a daughter, Mrs. James Cook of Albuquerque, NM. three grandchildren, and a brother, Paul of Neenah,

Friends may call from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. Sunday in the Welsheimer Funeral Home, where services will be held at 11 a m. Monday. Rev. Harry Collier, pastor of Westminster Presbyterian Church, officiating. Burial will be in Highland Cemetery.

Memorial contributions may be made to. the Westminster Church building fund or/the Heart Fund of St. Joseph County.

Article from 01 Oct 1971 The South Bend Tribune (South Bend, IN)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The success of a newspaper depends heavily upon devoted men whose names seldom appear in its pages, but whose professional skill guides its daily operations. Nelson E. Dodge, the retired circulation manager of The Tribune who died Thursday, played such a role in this newspaper's growth. He was the newspaper's oldest employee in length of service, having joined the staff in 1918. Dodge devoted his entire working life to The Tribune, serving 51 years in the circulation department until his retirement in 1969.

During his career, he saw the newspaper's circulation grow from 17.000 to more than 120,000. His meticulous attention to the details of selling The Tribune, so that subscribers received reliable, courteous delivery, contributed vitally to this growth. So did his promotion work. Some men achieve their goals by noisy aggressiveness. Nelson Dodge did it the opposite way. The quiet word and the persistent follow-up were his tools.

Those with whom he dealt knew his dependability in both word and action. After his retirement, Dodge served as a part-time circulation consultant for The Tribune's newspaper properties in other cities. He was stricken white telephoning from The Tribune office to one of those newspapers. The Tribune was part of his life until the end, just as he was part of The Tribune's.

Article from 02 Oct 1971 The South Bend Tribune (South Bend, IN)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sources: Ancestry.com and Newspapers.com

03/30/2026 EJS