By Staff Reports
Gail Harding, the former owner and publisher of The Enterprise, died Sunday, Feb. 9, at her home in Lynch Station, Va.
Harding, 69, was surrounded by family, friends and her beloved dogs at the time of her death, according to her sister, Linda Harding.
Gail Harding had suffered from several health issues since September, her sister added.
Gail Harding’s tenure at The Enterprise spanned 39 years, according to the October 2015 edition announcing she would retire from her post as publisher. Harding joined the paper in 1976 to help create and compose the 100th anniversary edition. She purchased The Enterprise in 1985.
“She bought the paper when she was about 35” years-old, said Linda Hylton, of Meadows of Dan, who was friends with Harding for 50 years.
“We met in college, while we were attending VCU (Virginia Commonwealth University). Gail was just funny. She was smart. Gail was always interested in what was going on with everything, and we just had a good time. (Harding) was like my other sister. Of course, now, I’ve lost both of them in three months,” Hylton said, and explained her sister, Anne Taylor, died in November.
Hylton recalled that Harding was a theatre and fine arts major. “Actually, she was a directing major in the theatre department. She graduated in 1973, and she went to New York City to work and find a job. I had decided, for no good reason, that I was moving to Denver. I graduated in 1972 and when I went to visit her in New York City, and found she didn’t like it,” the two decided to relocate to Greensboro, N.C.
Harding worked for a printing company in Greensboro, “and knew how to operate all those pieces of equipment at the paper” in Stuart, Hylton said, and explained that she often visited her relatives with Harding in tow.
Harding, she said, “came here because she liked visiting here with me and she liked my grandparents and parents and they just got to be another family for her. She loved the area, and when I moved back here from Greensboro, she wanted to come.
“She loved the area. She stayed here and I moved in and out of Patrick County several times after that. For a long time, she lived in my house when I didn’t. She loved it here. She loved the scenery especially, and she didn’t want to leave. She’d been here since 1976,” Hylton said.
Harding eventually moved from Patrick County and relocated to the home in Lynch Station that she and her sister bought and shared.
Many of Harding’s friends often visited her there, including Hylton, Edd Martin and Stephen Henderson.
“Gail was a great friend and mentor to me, especially when I first started teaching Journalism at Patrick County High School. She helped with laying out the paper, writing articles and darkroom work on photos for The Cougar Review. She offered valuable instruction and support when it came to software issues I had later when the newspaper staff went ‘electronic,’ Henderson said.
“Gail was always willing to support activities at the high school and was always willing to publish stories/pictures from the student body in The Enterprise. She often employed my journalism students throughout my years teaching the class.Most of all, she was a great friend, especially a good listener who often offered great advice whenever I needed it (or not!). I will truly miss her sense of humor and cherish her friendship that lasted over 30 years.”
“Gail was a wonderful person. She really cared about the paper and about the community. She always did a fair job with everything she reported in the paper and she will be missed,” Martin said, and added that Harding “was a great friend to Patrick County. As publisher of the Enterprise for over 40 years, she always did what was right and fair when it came to reporting the news of the county. For many years, Gail and I were competitors, and even then, we were friends. If we ever ran out of photo paper or film, she was always willing to lend some out. In 1995 she purchased my family’s newspaper and since then we have remained great friends. She considered her newspaper more as a public service to the community than a business. Each week she worked hard to make sure the front page of the paper was something with positive, good news about our area and worked tirelessly to make sure she brought the best news and information to the area she could.
“She cared about Patrick County and its citizens. She worked hard to keep them informed and up-to-date about everything happening in our community. She will always be remembered for having a big heart and a fair, unbiased reporting of the news,” Martin said.
Nancy Lindsey, a former editor at The Enterprise, also worked with Harding for many years.
“I worked for the paper for 40 years and she worked there almost as long,” Lindsey said. “We were friends as well as coworkers. She was a jack of all trades. She was a wonderful person.”
In keeping with her sister’s wishes, “we will have a big party in June” at the home in Lynch Station, Linda Harding said. Anyone from Patrick County who would like to attend is asked to email hardinglindalee@yahoo.com.
