Page 10 The Skanner December 6, 2017
News
Black Press mourns a New York Beacon
Rags to Riches Story Made Publisher Walter “Ball” Smith Jr. a Light for Many
From Crusader Staff
Report (Crusader
Newspaper Group/NNPA
Member)
T
he Black Press lost
one of its most de-
voted freedom war-
riors, last week.
Walter “Ball” Smith, the
publisher of “New York’s
Beacon” and the “Phila-
delphia Observer” died
on Friday, November 10.
He was 83.
“The Black Press has
lost a true giant in Black
America,” said Dorothy
R. Leavell, Chairman of
the National Newspaper
Publishers Association
(NNPA) and publisher
of the Chicago and Gary
Crusader newspapers.
“Walter Smith made a
difference in so many
lives of Black readers
and Black publishers in
the Northeast, and Amer-
ica, in general.”
As CEO of the Smith
Haj Group, Smith pub-
lished New York’s pre-
mier weekly, New York’s
Beacon and the Phila-
delphia Observer. Like
Black newspapers across
the country, both publi-
cations catered to a loy-
al Black readership that
made Smith a prominent
figure in the Black com-
munity. For 26 years, he
led the Beacon, an edgy
publication that shared
America’s largest Black
media market with sever-
Walter “Ball” Smith
al Black newspapers that
included the venerable
“New York Amsterdam
News.”
NNPA members, col-
leagues, friends and fam-
ily are mourning the loss
of a publisher who never
forgot his humble begin-
nings.
Walter Smith, Jr. was
the seventh of 10 children
born to Walter Smith
Sr. and his wife Belle.
He was raised in Badlin,
N.C. where his father, a
prominent civic lead-
er, worked for ALCOA,
an aluminum company.
When he was 18, Smith
was drafted into the U.S.
Army where he served in
Korea.
Upon his return, Smith
completed a degree in
business from the Uni-
versity of North Caro-
lina. He landed a job in
New York as a founding
employee with ADP (Au-
tomatic Data Processing),
a newly created company
known for processing
employee payrolls for
companies across the
country. Today, the ADP
has $10 billion in reve-
nue and serves 570,000
clients.
During a 2013 inter-
view with the “Stanly
News & Press” in Albe-
marle, N.C., Smith said
he had been working for
ADP for less than a year,
making $75 per week,
sometimes $100 with
overtime, when he sud-
denly noticed something
about his pay.
“I looked at my pay-
check one week, and $15
a week was coming out
for stock options. I said,
‘I can’t afford this,’’ Smith
told the newspaper.
His boss replied, “It’s
stock. I’m giving you
an option to buy stock,”
Smith remembered.
“He said, ‘You keep that
and pretty soon it will be
worth some money.’”
Smith’s boss was right.
On paper Smith learned
he was $2 million richer,
later, when he was trying
to buy a house on New
York’s Long Island in
1964.
“I’m struggling to get to
work and back and was
a millionaire and didn’t
know it,” Smith said. “It
was just a real Cinderella
story.”
It was the beginning of
an auspicious career that
took Smith from being an
ordinary American to a
successful businessman,
who purchased a small
Black newspaper and
built a powerful Black
media empire, becoming
a beloved community in-
stitution in Black neigh-
borhoods in two of Amer-
ica’s largest cities, New
York and Philadelphia.
In 1980, Smith met Bill
Underwood, who was
operating the “Big Red,”
a numerology tip selling
sheet that sold 100,000
copies per day. He lat-
er renamed it “Big Red
News” and the advertis-
ers started coming. “Big
Red News” became one
of the largest ABC audit-
ed Black weeklies in the
country.
Read more at
TheSkanner.com
Obituary: Basil Chadwick “Chad” Debnam
May 10, 1950 – Nov. 26, 2017
Local Portland
businessman Ba-
sil “Chad” Deb-
nam passed away
Sunday, Nov. 26,
2017 Sunday at
Emanuel hospi-
tal.
Basil Chadwick
Debnam
was
born May 10, Basil Chadwick “Chad”
1950 in Clayton,
Debnam
North Carolina to
Clarence and Madie Debnam. He was
the fourth of 12 children. The family
lived in Baltimore, Maryland and Palo
Alto, California before eventually set-
tling in Portland, Oregon.
Chad attended Cleveland high
school in Portland, Oregon where he
became a popular student and mem-
ber of the football team. Chad went on
to graduate from Pacific University,
earning degrees in political science
and economics. Chad married Mau-
ria Fletcher and together they raised
daughter Andrea and son Basil. A
devoted husband, father and grand-
father, Chad was happiest spending
time with his family -- whether it was
coaching Basil in sports, attending
games with his children, counseling
Andrea in her career path, teaching
Ace his ABC’s or traveling to the Ore-
gon coast blasting Bootsie Collins mu-
sic, Chad was passionate about life.
Ever the conversationalist, Chad nev-
er shied away from a healthy debate
or discussion about subjects ranging
from music to religion, politics to the
state of our community.
Chad’s varied interests and careers
included managing the hit recording
group Pleasure in the ‘70s, concert
promotions and real estate develop-
ment. He was the Founder and CEO of
B. Chadwick Group, LLC. Chad was ac-
tive in politics and business develop-
ment on a local and national level. A
true pioneer and tireless advocate for
small business ownership and Black
economic development, Chad’s ded-
ication to the uplifting of his fellow
man was clearly what mattered most
to him. Chad was past President of the
Portland chapter NAACP, member of
the National Black Business League,
past chairman of the Oregon Civil
Service Board and most recently in-
volved with the National Black Cham-
ber of Commerce.
Chad is preceded in death by his par-
ents Clarence and Madie Debnam and
brother Clarence Jr. He is survived
by wife Mauria, daughter Andrea
Debnam,son Basil Debnam, grand-
son Ace Debnam.,brothers Earl Deb-
nam, Michael Debnam, sisters Joan
Sheppherd, Jacqueline Debnam, Myra
Bradley (Nate), Darlene Debnam, Rho-
dean Debnam, Donna Sey (Momo-
dou), Debbie Debnam,Theresa Frison
(Tony) and a host of nieces, nephews,
cousins and friends.
The homegoing service will be held
at 11 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2017, at
Vancouver Ave First Baptist church.
A private family viewing will be held
prior to the service. For more infor-
mation visit TerryFamilyfuneral-
home.com.