Fred E. Morain, 94, retired longtime editor-publisher of the Jefferson Bee and Herald Newspapers, died Saturday, March 31, 2007, at Greene County Medical Center in Jefferson after a short illness. Services will be held Wednesday, April 4, at 2 pm at First United Methodist Church, with burial in Jefferson Cemetery. Family visitation will be held Tuesday from 6:30 to 8:30 pm at Slininger-Rossow Funeral Home in Jefferson.

Fred was born Jan. 3, 1913, in Jefferson, the son of Percival Orlando and Nina Myrtle (Dillavou) Morain. He graduated as valedictorian in 1931 from Jefferson High School, where he was a football and track standout. He received a B.A. magna cum laude in English from the University of Iowa in 1935, where he was in Phi Gamma Delta fraternity and edited the U of I Hawkeye yearbook his senior year. He earned a J.D. degree from the U of I College of Law in 1937. Fred returned to Jefferson in 1937 and joined the staff of the Bee and Herald as a minority owner, acquiring full ownership in 1953. He retired in 1976, but wrote his popular "Cogitations of an Old Codger" weekly column for another 20 years. He was named an Iowa Master Editor-Publisher by the Iowa Newspaper Association.

Fred met Lois Irene Garver, a new Jefferson music school teacher, shortly after his return from the university. They were married in 1939 and were parents of five children.

Fred was a lifelong member of First Baptist Church in Jefferson, where he taught adult Sunday school for many years and served in many church positions. He was a past president of the Jefferson Chamber of Commerce, served on the local school board and library board, and was a longtime leader in Greene County economic development activities.

He was a 70-year member of the Jefferson Rotary Club and a past president of Rotary District 6000, and was currently the longest tenured member of Rotary in District 6000. A longtime Scoutmaster of Boy Scout Troop 34 in Jefferson, he received the Silver Beaver Award, the highest honor awarded by a Scout council.

Fred was a longtime Greene County Republican finance chairman, and was active in GOP party affairs at the state level for many years. He was a charter member of the Governor's Human Rights Committee (which later became the Iowa Civil Rights Commission) in the 1950s.

Among his local awards were the Tower of Fame Award and the Jefferson High School Hall of Fame. Fred and Lois were named Parents of the Year by Graceland College in Lamoni in 1961, and Fred was Father of the Year at the University of Iowa in 1970.

Fred and Lois built a home at Lake Panorama near Panora in the early 1970s, where Fred served on the Lake Panorama board. They returned to Jefferson in 1987.

Survivors include sons Rick (Kathy) of Jefferson, Bill (Sherry) of Lamoni, Steve (Erna) of Waukee, and Tom (Vikki) of Lamoni; daughter Debbie Burnight (Randy) of Sioux City; 17 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren;and many other relatives and friends.

Memorials are suggested to the Greene County Community Foundation or the Lois Morain Music Camp Scholarship Fund.