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News Icon Who Helped Miami Rebuild Dies

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The Associated Press

Published: December 29, 2008

MIAMI - Alvah H. Chapman Jr., a giant of the newspaper industry who helped Miami rebuild after Hurricane Andrew, died of pneumonia on Christmas Day. He was 87.

He was 5 when his family moved to the area, when his father, Alvah Sr., became publisher of The Bradenton Evening Herald. After growing up around newspapers, he served as general manager of the St. Petersburg Times, publisher of The Savannah Morning News and Evening Press in Georgia, president and chief executive officer of The Miami Herald and chairman of Knight Ridder Corp.

Chapman, who had been in poor health, died after spending Christmas with family in Coconut Grove. He had Parkinson's disease, suffered strokes in recent years and broke a hip in March.

In Miami, where he moved his family in 1960, Chapman worked to house the homeless, helped sculpt downtown Miami's contemporary appearance and led the group, We Will Rebuild, after Hurricane Andrew in 1992.

Chapman is survived by his wife, Betty; two daughters, Chris Hilton of St. Petersburg and Dale Webb of Miami; a sister, Wyline Sayler of St. Petersburg; six grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

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