Pinder, Albert J. 1920-2011

PINDER, LUDWIG, WATT

Posted By: Volunteer Transcriber
Date: 3/28/2025 at 15:15:02

Albert Pinder
1920 - 2011
Grinnell, Iowa

ABOUT
Grinnell College
Northwestern University

Albert William Joseph Pinder, 91, longtime publisher of The Grinnell Herald-Register and an advocate for the betterment of his adopted hometown, died December 31 in Grinnell.

Visitation at Smith Funeral Home in Grinnell will be from 4 to 8 p.m. January 6 with the family present from 5 to 7 p.m.

A celebration of life will be held at 10:30 a.m. January 7 in Herrick Chapel on the Grinnell College campus. Memorials may be made to St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Grinnell.

Pinder, a son of immigrants, was born February 21, 1920, in Pittsburgh, PA., to Gisele Sophia and Stanley Ludwig Pinder.

He spent his childhood years in suburban Philadelphia, served in the U.S. Army during World War II, and later earned his Bachelor's degree from Chicago's Northwestern University. He married Dorothy Jeanne Watt in 1949 and moved to Grinnell.

Pinder joined the Grinnell Herald-Register that year, and became publisher in 1974. Active in the Iowa Newspaper Association, he served as president among other roles, was named a master editor-publisher in 1975 and received its Distinguished Service Award in 1993. He was awarded the National Newspaper Association's James O. Amos Award for community journalism in 1999. He was active in the community - instrumental in the consolidation of hospitals which created today's Grinnell Regional Medical Center, and in the founding of Grinnell Federal Savings and Loan, Greater Grinnell Development and St. Paul's.

Pinder also worked with the U.S. State Department, hosting around 500 international visitors in Grinnell. The United States Information Agency presented Pinder its distinguished service award in 1991 for his international visitors program. He also earned an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Grinnell College in 1994.

Pinder's life was characterized by his endless interest in good friends, good economic development and good relationships between people of all nations.

To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.

Published by the Des Moines (IA) Register on Jan. 6, 2012.