In May 1943, Neva Ackerman Moyer became the first female managing editor at The State News, filling the role after her future husband Sheldon Moyer left to serve in World War II.
Neva died in November 2017 and Sheldon in 1977, so their story is retold by granddaughter Shelley Danner.
Sheldon was appointed managing editor and Neva was assistant editor of The State News in June 1942.
Then, in September 1942 Sheldon led a successful drive to increase State News production from three days a week to five and include articles from other news organization to keep students informed on world events.
“They met at The State News and they were friends, but they didn’t start dating at that time,” Shelley said.
Sheldon graduated early in April 1943 and joined the U.S. Army, where he served as a captain in the 10th Armored Division.
“When all the men were going off to war, my grandmother was asked to take over his role as managing editor,” Shelley said. “She led the first ever all-female editorial team.”
After graduating in June 1944, Neva took a job with the Associated Press in Lansing.
She would regularly check the casualty and wounded lists of American soldiers for familiar names.
“One day in 1945, she saw his name show up on the list of returning service men who were recovering in the hospital in Battle Creek,” Shelley said. “She wrote a note to him wishing him a speedy recovery and that was the reconnection.”
Sheldon “called on” Neva after his release from the hospital and the “rest is history.”
Neva moved to New York City in 1945 for a reporting job with AP, and she kept dating Sheldon.
In 1947, she returned to Michigan and married him Sept. 18, 1948.
They had three children, Marcia, Mark and Jane, and five grandchildren, Shelley and Molly Danner, Christopher and Kathleen Moyer and Michael Wise.
Sheldon was awarded a Silver Star, Purple Heart and MSU Distinguished Alumni Award. Neva was inducted into The State News Alumni Association Hall of Fame in 2008 and was awarded the Blue Key Sweetheart.
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