Donald W. Reynolds

Donald W. Reynolds. Donald Worthington Reynolds was born in 1906 to Anna Louise and Gaines W. Reynolds, a traveling wholesale grocery salesman. He spent his childhood in Oklahoma City and it was there the young Reynolds first began working in the industry he would eventually dominate, "hawking" copies of the Oklahoma News at the railroad depot. , After high school he set his sights on the University of Missouri's School of Journalism, working summers at a meat packing plant in Oklahoma City to pay for his studies. , Upon graduation in 1927, Mr. Reynolds worked in a variety of newspaper-oriented positions. With $1,000 in capital (part of which he borrowed), he invested in his first business enterprise, a photo engraving plant. Using the profits from this venture, he purchased and then sold his first newspaper, the Quincy (Massachusetts) Evening News. The proceeds were used to purchase the Okmulgee (Oklahoma) Daily Times and the Southwest (Arkansas) Times Record, the two publications that launched the Donrey Media Group. , Oklahoma would continue to play a pivotal role in his company's success as he acquired sixteen newspaper properties in the Sooner state over Donrey's fifty-three years of continuous operation. , Throughout his life Mr. Reynolds continually expanded his business enterprise, ultimately owning over 100 businesses in the newspaper, radio, television, cable television and outdoor advertising industries. His sharp business acumen focused on businesses located in small but growth-oriented communities. , Upon his death in 1993, the Donrey Media Group, one of the nation's largest privately held media companies, was sold. A substantial bequest from Mr. Reynolds' estate provided the endowment for the charitable foundation which he had created in 1954 – the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation. , It was from his foundation that a multi-million dollar grant was awarded in 2001 to restore historic Holmberg Hall to its original grandeur.