The Official Word: Remembering John Romer

The official word: Friday, Aug. 14, 2009

By Karen Smith Hupp,Guest Columnist

The Southern Maryland PR community this week mourns the loss of John Romer, public affairs officer for Patuxent River Naval Air Station, who died Aug. 6 after a battle with cancer.
U.S. Navy Capt. Andrew Macyko, commanding officer at Patuxent River, shared in an e-mail to the military community, "It is with tremendous heartfelt sadness that I inform you that our Pax River PAO, John Romer, passed away."
Those associated with PRISM (Public Relations Individuals in Southern Maryland) can empathize with Macyko since Romer, who served as PRISM's inaugural vice president, was considered somewhat of a patriarch for the organization.
"John Romer's contributions to PRISM were enormous. He was a charter member and officer. He actively participated in the first organizing meeting over six years ago … and he arranged for one of our first meetings to be held at the NavAir Officers Club. He will be remembered as a strong, quiet figure in the history of our organization," said Marc Apter, PRISM's charter president and associate vice president of marketing and public relations at St. Mary's College of Maryland.
Those attending last fall's session, "How to write a press release," as part of PRISM's annual workshop were recent recipients of Romer's insight and mentoring when he joined the hands-on tutorial to offer individualized feedback on their efforts. Afterward he remarked of the experience, "[My contributions] were just enough to make me want to get in the classroom and teach journalism. … As a matter of fact, I was beginning to think I was back in that journalism class," adding he was looking forward to more discussions on communicating via social media.
At 68, Romer enjoyed a long career in media and public relations, seeing it evolve from the days of vintage Royal manual typewriters to thumb-size keyboards of today's mobile devices. He is remembered for his work ethic, his community involvement and his mentoring.
As the St. Mary's Enterprise's editor, Rick Boyd recalled his long association with Romer. "For many years, we depended on John to arrange access for our writers and editors to those who work at Pax River, which often meant that we asked him to convey to everyone from commanding officers and engineers that they could trust us to understand and write about complicated and technical information. He was enormously helpful to us. On a personal level we also remember how he and others on the Navy base mourned with us last year when Paul Leibe, our longtime military reporter, died. Now we sadly find ourselves joining with John's family and colleagues at Pax River to mourn his passing."
Those in the community admired Romer as well. "I fondly remember him as a great professional and community-minded guy," said Michelle Goodwin, vice president of advancement for the College of Southern Maryland.
PRISM members are considering ideas on how to recognize Romer's contributions to the organization and for his inspiration and mentoring of PR professionals.