Frank A. Aukofer — a 40-year, award-winning journalist in Washington and Milwaukee — died July 14, 2025 at the age of 90 surrounded by friends and family at his residence at Goodwin House in Falls Church, Virginia.
Aukofer’s storied career was covered in a July 17 post and story in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. According to the story:
Born April 6, 1935, in Milwaukee, the oldest of seven children of Herbert A. (Pat) Aukofer and Wanda M. (Kaminski) Aukofer, Frank Aukofer attended St. John de Nepomuc grade school and graduated from Messmer High School in 1953. That year, he became an apprentice compositor at Wisconsin Cuneo Press, a commercial printer, following in the trade of his father and his grandfather, Frank X. Aukofer.
Aukofer was best known for his coverage in Washington, where he spent 30 years reporting on Wisconsin stories and elected officials, mostly for The Milwaukee Journal and, in his last years, the merged Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, before he retired in 2000.
During his tenure, Aukofer reported on many historic Washington events, including the impeachment proceedings against Presidents Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton, and national political conventions spanning 24 years. He served as the Washington bureau chief after his reporting partner, John W. Kole, retired in 1989.
In addition his reporting in Washington, Aukofer traveled Central America, Panama, Colombia and Cuba on assignments. He was assigned to the U.S. Defense Department National Media Pool and was a member of the first press pool allowed into Saudi Arabia to cover Desert Shield in August 1990. He returned in January 1991 to cover Desert Storm, the Gulf War.
Aukofer earned several journalism achievement awards from the National Press Club, Society of Professional Journalists and Marquette University in Milwaukee, where he majored in journalism from 1955-60. He also joined the U.S. Air Force Reserve in 1952 and served as an enlisted airman until his honorable discharge as an Airman First Class in 1960.
Aukofer started as a general assignment reporter at The Milwaukee Journal, taking a $35 per week pay cut from his $130 a week wages as a compositor at The Journal, Aukofer recounted in a self-prepared remembrance he compiled in the final year of his life.
In 1964, Aukofer was assigned to the civil rights beat, where he covered historic stories including the Selma to Montgomery marches in 1965, the assassination in Memphis of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968, the Detroit riots in 1967, and the Milwaukee open housing marches in 1967 and 1968.
While covering news stories for The Journal and the Journal Sentinel, he wrote a weekly automobile review column, “DriveWays,” which was distributed to newspapers and websites in the U.S. and abroad starting in 1975 and continuing to 2024.
In 1978, Aukofer served as president of the National Press Club. He also served as president and chairman of the National Press Foundation from 1979-84, and as a member of the foundation’s board of directors for a total of 27 years.
He is survived by his wife, Sharlene; four children — Juli (Enrique), Matt (Jill), Becky and Joe (Joanne) — 10 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. A Catholic funeral Mass and reception will be held at Goodwin House Bailey’s Crossroads, 3440 S. Jefferson St., Falls Church, Virginia, at 10:30 a.m. July 22. In lieu of flowers, those seeking to contribute a memorial are asked to consider a donation in Aukofer’s name to the Paul Miller Washington Reporting Fellowship through the National Press Foundation.
