Earl A. Mathes rose from sportswriter and bookkeeper to become owner of the (Kiel) Tri-County Record newspaper. He died in October 1999 at age 73.
The weekly newspaper won numerous state and national awards under Mathes’ leadership. His sons, Mike and Joe, took over the paper when Mathes retired in 1986. Mathes continued to write his “Roving Reporter” column, however.
Mathes became sole owner of the paper in 1968 and served as editor and publisher until 1980. He also was on the board of directors for the Wisconsin Newspaper Association.
