Obituary for Neild Oldham

New London — Neild Burgess Oldham, 79, of 11 Plant St., New London, died of cancer on Wednesday, March 7, at home.

He was born May 21, 1927, in New Bedford, Mass., the son of the late William Ewart Oldham and Sarah Burgess Oldham Wallace. He had been a resident of New London since 1969.

Mr. Oldham spent most of his professional life in publishing. He and his wife, Susan H. Munger, owned The Oldham Publishing Service that for 10 years published the New London Gazette, a monthly newsletter devoted to the city of New London. He ran weekly newspapers in Maine; was a reporter on the Providence (R.I.) Journal-Bulletin; and ran the design, editing, and production departments in a division of a major book publisher in New York City. He is the author or co-author of several textbooks, reference books, and one novel. The novel, “Right to Know,” grew out of his passionate belief in freedom of the press.

He was active in and a member of several local organizations including the New London County Historical Society of which he was president for three years, New London Landmarks, and the New London Maritime Society. As an active volunteer he served as a docent at the Hempsted Houses, the Shaw-Perkins Mansion, and, for many years, at the Monte Cristo Cottage. For several years he was involved in helping to run the New London Trolley Information Station.

He was co-chair of the Coalition to Save the Fort Trumbull Neighborhood, which led the fight to stop the abuse of the power of eminent domain in New London as the 20th century became the 21st century. The case eventually went to the U.S. Supreme Court. He had earlier joined with those opposing urban renewal and who worked to save Union Railroad Station from the wrecker's ball.

A veteran of World War II, Mr. Oldham joined the Navy on his 16th birthday. He served four years, mostly in the Pacific on the USS Baron, DE 166, which participated in several major actions. He earned the European Theater of Operations Medal and the Pacific Theater of Operations Medal with four battle stars.

He had become a convinced pacifist and joined with those opposing a war with Iraq. During the Vietnam War, his home in New London was often a staging area for those coming from around the world to protest at military or defense institutions in the area.

Mr. Oldham was a forest ranger in Maine as a young man, and a lifelong lover of the outdoors. He was an avid canoeist, hiker, birdwatcher, and photographer.

He is survived by his wife, Susan; a daughter, Patricia Namerow of Middletown, R.I.; three sons, Kitteridge Oldham and Davis Oldham of Seattle, Wash., and James Oldham of Amherst, Mass., and their mother, Alison Oldham, of Seattle, Wash.; six grandchildren, Dana Harrell of Middletown, R.I., Alexis and Edith Angela Oldham Barca of Amherst, Mass., Rebekah Sponaugle of Portland, Ore., and Sophie Alexander Segel and Jemma Davis Alexander of Seattle, Wash.; a great-granddaughter, Saylor Nyla Redfearn, of Middletown, R.I.; a brother, Hugh Oldham of Cotuit, Mass.; and numerous nieces and nephews.

A sister, Betty Sawyer of Coventry, R.I., and a brother, Peter Oldham of Pocasset, Mass., predeceased him.

Mr. Oldham's family requests that, in lieu of flowers, friends make donations to the Monte Cristo Cottage, care of Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, 305 Great Neck Road, Waterford, CT, 06385, or to Hospice Southeastern Connecticut, P.O. Box 902, Uncasville, CT 06382-0902.

The family invites friends to join them for a celebration of Mr. Oldham's life on Sunday, April 1, at 1 p.m. at the Pilot House, Ocean Beach Park, in New London, Connecticut.

For directions or to send an online condolence to the family, please visit www.neilanfuneralhome.com.

New London

An Editorial Tribute to Neild Oldham

Over the years, we often heard from Neild Oldham. Whenever he felt the Day had done something stupid or repugnant he would call an editor, or more often, fire off a letter full of fire and brimstone, never mincing words about the perceived idiocy or moral betrayal of the press' responsibility.

While he had been an editor for a larger metropolitan newspaper, Mr. Oldham, who died this week at the age of 79, more resembled a small-town crusading editor. He was imbued with a sense of mission to set matters straight, employing the printing press as his weapon of choice.

He was both a craftsman with words and a journalist in the tradition of Horace Greeley, the 19th-century crusading newspaper editor. His anger toward The Day belied a strong affection for the newspaper and the tradition out of which it grew. This feeling intensified when he spent two years editing the book about The Day, “The Day Paper: The Story of One of America's Last Independent Newspapers.” He was a meticulous and thoughtful editor, poring over every line without losing sight of the story.

For Mr. Oldham, the purpose of the press was unambiguous. Its responsibility was the same as that of any good citizen in the American democracy: To look after the rights of the people and the public interest. This was nothing more than the printer's creed that had been passed down across generations from colonial times. He thoroughly had assimilated it, as a newspaperman and later independent editor and printer.

It was in this spirit that he took up the cause of the homeowners in Fort Trumbull when New London took their homes by eminent domain for a redevelopment project. For Mr. Oldham, there were no shades of gray on matters of this importance. Issues that had the impact this one did on people's lives were black and white, and all those who had supported the city, including The Day, were in his estimation allied with the devil.

The matter of Fort Trumbull was for Mr. Oldham an example of misbegotten history repeating itself. He was particularly aggrieved that the New London County Historical Society had not taken a stand against city urban-renewal projects in the 1960s and 1970s that had leveled historic New London neighborhoods. As a board member and president of the Society, he was determined to see that that didn't occur in Fort Trumbull. He also frequently shared with The Day his strong misgivings about the newspaper's support for the project. The newspaper tradition he revered always put the rights of the people and the underdog first, he would say.

There was never any doubt about where he stood. The Day and New London will miss his strong, clear voice and conscience.

NEWLONDON