Oct 28, 2018 5 min read

Financial donations, of course, are foundations of philanthropy. But they are not the only pieces necessary to complete the equation.

“Giving your talents and time are important,” Tom Northrop said. “We actively asked our employees to give to the community, and not only money. It’s putting in time and making a community a better place.”

For 116 years, the Northrop family strived to make the 92 municipalities in Washington and Greene counties – and several beyond those borders – better places by publishing daily newspapers. Initially, they put out two, the Washington Observer and the Washington Reporter, then for the past 51 years, the merged Observer-Reporter.

But they also have contributed talent, time and finances to local nonprofit boards. For their formidable efforts, the family – five generations’ worth – has been selected for the annual Washington County Community Foundation’s Philanthropist of the Year award. They will be honored at a dinner Thursday evening at the Hilton Garden Inn at Southpointe.

Actually, the Northrops will do more than share the award. The Community Foundation renamed it in their honor this year, the Northrop Family Excellence Award for Community Philanthropy.

More than a century of their newspapers and philanthropy will be celebrated Thursday night. Angelo’s Restaurant, in North Franklin Township, and Range Resources, with regional headquarters in Southpointe, will share the Charles C. Keller Award for Corporate Philanthropy.

And speaking of Chuck Keller, there will be a special tribute to the man who toiled as a local attorney for 67 years. The co-founder of Peacock Keller & Ecker died in May, one month before his 95th birthday.

The awards dinner will take place exactly one month after the Northrops relinquished control of Observer Publishing Co., publisher of the O-R, the weekly Almanac and a group of niche publications. Tom, 61, the owner/publisher, announced in mid-September that OPC shareholders voted to sell the company to Ogden Newspapers of Wheeling, W.Va., a move he called “bittersweet.” The sale took effect Oct. 1.

Until then, he and his sister, Lucy Northrop Corwin, were two of the top executives at OPC. Lucy, 56, was director of news for the Observer-Reporter. Their father, John, now 88, and his brother, William, were third-generation owner/publishers.

John L. Stewart, Tom and Lucy’s great-grandfather, started the business with partner E.F. Acheson in 1902, a bully idea to go with Roosevelt’s celebrated “bully pulpit.” Stewart became controlling owner in 1912, after Acheson retired, then, following his death, was succeeded in 1940 by his wife, Margaretta. She died in 1966 and her grandsons, the John/Bill team, took over.

John, Tom and Lucy sat for an interview last week. They expressed gratitude and humility for an honor they weren’t expecting when they met weeks ago with Betsie Trew, president and chief executive officer of the nonprofit foundation.

“We were called in and told about the renaming (of the award),” Lucy said. “We didn’t realize we were winning it.”

Tom, a WCCF director and chairman of the board of Washington Health System, said the philanthropy honor “is certainly humbling. I’ve always said I thought it was important to be part of the community.”

John, who retired with his brother in 2002, said he was a founding member of the community foundation. He said initial talks occurred in 1992, and that the foundation in Pittsburgh “was interested” in taking over that objective.

“Charlie Keller said, ‘No, do it on your own,'” John recalled. “People said you can’t start a foundation until you have $10 million.”

WCCF launched in December 1995 with a modest $5,000 in assets. Under Trew, that total has risen to more than $35 million, Tom said.

Trew has a keen appreciation for what the award-winning family has done for 116 years, which includes that fifth generation – Grace Dalmolin, digital marketing manager of the company’s Reimagine Main Street.

“There are few families in the region who have made such a broad, long-standing impact on local philanthropy as the Northrop family,” Trew said. “They were a driving force behind the creation of the WCCF, and through their financial contributions, both as a family and individually, they helped set us on a path for future success.”

Tom, his father and sister remain true to the family’s Washington roots. Lucy, who is on several boards, lives in East Washington; Tom resides in South Strabane Township; and John in Upper St. Clair.

Tom is retired and Lucy plans to work again. They aren’t as accustomed to idle time as their father, but they really don’t have a heap of idle time. Not with their community service.

“We sold the paper, but we’re still going to live here,” Tom said. “It’s what we do.”