Michael B. Gage, a Green Bay native and third-generation member of his family to serve as publisher of the Green Bay Press-Gazette, died Feb. 17, 2013. He was 75.
Gage’s retirement in 1992 ended 77 years of family leadership of the Press-Gazette, dating to its founding in 1915 by his grandfather, Andrew B. Turnbull. Daniel Beisel, Gage’s uncle, was the second publisher and was succeeded by Gage. He was extremely proud of his family’s newspaper tradition and the hundreds of people it took to produce the paper throughout the years.
Gage was a 1955 graduate of Green Bay East High School and spent two years at UW-Madison before enlisting in the U.S. Army. After his honorable discharge, he joined the newspaper’s classified advertising department and 10 years later moved into the promotions department. He was promoted to personnel manager in 1971.
In 1980, Gage was named the newspaper corporation’s vice president and general manager, and several years later assisted in its sale to Gannett. He was named publisher when the sale was finalized. From 1981-1988 he served as a regional vice president for Gannett.
The Press-Gazette’s role in founding and nurturing the Green Bay Packers is legend and Gage continued the affiliation until his death. He was an emeritus director of the corporation board and just the second president of the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame. Gage was the largest private shareholder in the football corporation and among those most responsible for the success of the annual Hall of Fame induction ceremony
Gage and his wife had two sons and several grandchildren.
