Harry Norman Nuck

Harry Norman Nuck, fondly known as Norm, loved and admired by many and who will be remembered as a major influence in newspaper journalism for his nearly 50 years of editorial leadership in Southern Monterey County, passed away Monday, Oct. 21.

He was born Aug. 13, 1925, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. He moved to Oakland in 1927 and then to Santa Barbara before settling in Monterey in the mid-1930s. A 1944 graduate of Monterey High School, he was a three-year letterman of the golf team and a starter on the school's champion basketball team his senior year.

Norm served with the 89th Infantry Division in the European Campaign (occupation army after the war) and during World War II. Discharged in 1946, he was awarded a combat infantry badge. He then attended Salinas Junior College in 1946-48 and received his Associate Degree and matriculated at UC Berkeley from 1948 to 1950, graduating with a bachelor's degree in journalism and developing a friendship with a fellow student at Cal who would change his life forever in just a few years. A member of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity, he was also a member of the Phi Phi National inter-fraternity honor society. He was employed by the Quartermaster Corps as a civil inspector from 1950 to 1953, at which point his life would take a dramatic turn.

It was at UC Berkeley that he met who would become his lifetime friend and later employer and then his business partner, Harry Casey – a relationship that would change the landscape of newspaper journalism in Southern Monterey County. Norm joined Casey at the King City Rustler-Herald in February of 1953 as editor and associate publisher. Harry and Norm brought the Greenfield News, Soledad Bee and Gonzales Tribune into what would become Casey Newspapers, proudly bringing together a team of reporters and advertising personnel into a journalistic entity dedicated to reporting the news and promoting the best interests of South County.

He created and edited "The Land and its People," an award-winning supplement devoted to farming and ranching which appeared monthly in the four newspapers from King City to Gonzales.

Norm worked at the newspaper for more than 46 years. Upon his retirement, he received resolutions of appreciation and commendation from the City of King, Monterey County, California Assembly and the U.S. House of Representatives.

He was a member and past president of the King City Lions Club; member and past Grand Knight for the Knights of Columbus; member and past president of the King City Toastmasters; member of the George L. Mee Memorial Hospital Foundation; member of Veterans of Foreign Wars VFW Frank Lillard Post 6747; and a communicant at St. John's Catholic Church. He also enjoyed the company of many friends at Silver Kings and Queens.

Many of his friends knew him as "The Duke," a royalty-like nickname some say Norm prescribed upon himself during a now-legendary series of Yaqui dice-tossing competitions among friends that continues to this day. According to one version of that legend (there are many versions), his partner Harry was dubbed "The Champ" after winning the inaugural battle, prompting Norm to self-anoint himself a Duke and then win the next competition. Staffers at Casey Newspapers grew accustomed to very loud shouts across the newsroom from "Champ" to "Duke."

An avid and very accomplished golfer for decades, Norm was the winner of the 1941 Peter Hay Junior Golf Championship of the Monterey Peninsula and was runner up in 1942. He was also the King City Men's Club match play championship in 1954. He was also proud to have been chosen to the KCHS Athletic Hall of Fame, cited for his decades of writing about local sports at all levels, especially about King City High School athletes. He was for many years the announcer at the King City Invitational Track Meet at War Memorial Stadium

After his retirement from the newspaper, he continued his passion for local sports and sports history by writing a monthly column for Real Estate and Living until 2009.

Particularly as Norm's eyesight began to fail in his later years, he was grateful for the many friends and family members who accompanied him to the golf course on a daily basis for morning coffee and "political discourse."

When all was said and done, however, his job as a reporter and editor of newspapers was always his first love.

"If I have made any contribution to the South County news scene, I would like to believe it would be my role, however minor, in the development of such outstanding news people as John Pekema, Suzi Taylor, Polly Kennedy, Greg Hughes, Sharon Casey and Karen Jernigan, among others," said Nuck upon his retirement. "I am forever indebted to so many others for their support and devotion, along with such good friends and great co-workers – Donna Palmer, Phil Garcia, AnnaMae VanEvery, Howard Mellick, Edith Winslow, Valerie Guice, Anne Nample, John LaVelle, 'Aunt' Ruth Steglich, Gladys Brauch and, it goes without saying, Harry Casey."

Norm was preceded in death by the love of his life, Cathryn Claire Giudici Nuck on Nov. 25, 2007. Norm and Cathryn were married August 1, 1954, and celebrated more than 50 years of marriage. He is survived by his children: Ellen (John) Fisher of Hollister; David Nuck, Patrick (Lilia) Nuck, and Thomas Nuck, all of King City; and Paul Nuck of Big Bear. Another huge facet and a source of great pride were his four grandchildren, Christopher Fisher, Michael Fisher, Courtney Fisher and Samuel Nuck.

A Rosary will be held Thursday, Oct. 24, at 7 p.m. at St. John's Church in King City. Mass will follow on Friday at 10 a.m., followed by a reception at the Parish Hall. Private interment will be at King City Cemetery.

Pallbearers are Martin Salaberry, Peter Giudici, Francis Giudici, James Giudici, David Danes and Marvin Borzini.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be sent to Mee Hospital Foundation or Saint John's Church.