Roy Cummings, newspaper guild founder, dead at 88

By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer

Roy W. Cummings, a journalist known as the "Father of the Hawai'i Newspaper Guild," died Saturday. The Kailua resident was 88.

Cummings was born in St. Louis, Mo., on Sept. 15, 1913. He graduated from the University of Missouri in 1935 with a degree in journalism and moved to Hawai'i the following year to work for The Honolulu Advertiser.

That job with the morning paper lasted just two years, however, when he was fired for his union organizing activity. Cummings did free-lance work until he was hired by the Honolulu Star-Bulletin in 1943.

Cummings worked as a war correspondent in the Pacific during World War II. After the war he worked on the copy desk at the Star-Bulletin.

In 1937, Cummings and a handful of newspaper employees formed the first Hawai'i Newspaper Guild, which represented workers at both daily newspapers. But with the dismissal of Cummings and other leaders, the guild lost its charter.

But Cummings did not give up, and in 1949 he reorganized the guild as an independent union that included editorial staff at the Star-Bulletin. He later organized the editorial staff at The Advertiser.

Cummings left the guild and Hawai'i in 1958. He was succeeded by Roy Kruse, who headed the guild for 27 years until his retirement five years ago.

Kruse said Cummings was a tireless fighter for employee rights.

"We didn't have any offices and you did all of the union work after hours," Kruse said from his home in Vancouver, Wash., "You give up your whole life for it and he did that. He was that kind of person, one of the finest persons I have ever met."

Susan Cummings said her husband held union meetings and kept all records at his home. The couple met in Hawai'i, but were married in St. Louis in 1959.

She said today's guild members owe a debt of gratitude to her husband.

"He worked for 10 years without a vacation. They worked any hours anybody told them to for nothing, practically. So when the guild was formed, salaries went way up," she said.

The Cummingses moved to New Mexico in 1958, but returned to Hawai'i from 1960 to 1962 when Roy Cummings worked for The Advertiser. In 1963, he went to work at the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, where he retired in 1983.

Two years ago, the couple returned to Hawai'i and lived in Lanikai.

In addition to his wife, Cummings is survived by his sons, Toby and Shawn; daughters, Melani Whitehead and Melissa Kornis; three grandchildren; a twin brother, Ray; and several nieces and nephews.

A scattering of ashes will be held at 2:30 p.m. today at the He'eia Kea Pier in Kane'ohe.

Correction: A previous version of this story misspelled Ray Cummings' name.