David E. Klement, the ‘conscience’ of the Bradenton Herald for three decades, dies at 81

Editor’s note: David E. Klement, editorial page editor for the Bradenton Herald for 30 years before his retirement in 2007, died early Wednesday at his Bradenton home. Before his death, he wrote the bulk of the following obituary on his life and career.

David E. Klement, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, think-tank director and public utility regulator, died Wednesday at his home in his sleep, according to his family. He was 81.

Mr. Klement served as editorial page editor of the Bradenton Herald from 1977 to 2007, writing anonymously one and often two editorials a day that reflected the Herald Editorial Board’s views on local issues, plus a bi-weekly signed column in which he shared his personal observations about family, community and life.

At most newspapers, the editorial policy is considered “the conscience of the community,” and directing that policy for 30 years was a role Mr. Klement accepted with grace and humility. Though he often opposed policy-makers’ decisions and criticized civic leaders for actions they had taken or had failed to take in the public interest, he earned the respect of most by his careful research of each issue on which he opined. At his retirement party staged by the Herald in September 2007, more than 100 community leaders turned out to honor his community service and wish him well in retirement.

“David was one of the most tenacious, passionate, dedicated journalists I have known. The world has lost a true gentleman and champion of democracy,” said Joan Krauter, former Herald executive editor. “I’m honored to have been part of David’s life -- both as newspaper cohorts, and as dear friends. I will miss his words of wisdom.”

During his 45-year career in journalism, Mr. Klement worked at the Daily Oklahoman in Oklahoma City, the Chicago Sun-Times, and Detroit Free Press before moving to Bradenton in 1975. At the Free Press, he shared a Pulitzer Prize with the news team for the paper’s coverage of the 1967 Detroit riot. He rose from copy editor to night city editor and assistant business editor at the Free Press. In that latter capacity, he wrote a weekly column on the advertising industry during the era depicted in the long running TV series “Mad Men.” He assured family members and friends that much of the behavior featured in that series was an accurate representation of the ad industry he covered, especially the three-martini lunches.

Upon retiring from the Herald, Mr. Klement began a second career as director of the Institute for Public Policy and Leadership at the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee. This was, he said, a natural progression from writing about public policy issues to presenting public discussions about them in forums and seminars.

After two years at USF, Mr. Klement took a leap into the unknown by applying for an appointment to the Florida Public Service Commission (PSC), which oversees an industry about which he knew little but one he quickly began to study. The regulatory board oversees the state’s investor-owned utilities. This came in fall 2009, a time when the PSC was embroiled in controversy over collusion between regulators and the utilities, and then-Gov. Charlie Crist sought to appoint commissioners with unquestioned integrity and no ties to the utility industry. Crist named Mr. Klement as one of two appointees to the PSC, an appointment subject to confirmation by the Florida Senate. During his brief tenure, the PSC considered the two largest rate increase requests in state history, a $1.3 billion hike by Florida Power & Light Co. and a $500 million raise by Progress Energy (now Duke Power). When the board awarded FPL only a tiny fraction of its requested hike, the company launched a $6 million campaign against Mr. Klement and Crist’s other new appointee, Benjamin Stevens, initiating fake email chains and making large campaign donations to key senators to influence their votes against confirmation. On the Legislature’s last day in session in April 2010, Mr. Klement failed to win confirmation by four votes.

But he was still not ready to retire. Applying the knowledge and skills acquired in directing the USF think tank, he wrote a plan for a new think tank being developed at St. Petersburg College. When the Institute for Strategic Policy Solutions was launched at SPC in spring 2011, Mr. Klement was named its first executive director. He served in that role for eight years, presenting more than 20 forums, workshops and seminars each year focused on such policy issues as climate change, the opioid crisis, prison reform, racism and social justice. He retired from that position in May 2019.

But he was still not quite finished. He immediately began to fulfill his long-held dream of writing books. His first, a combined autobiography and retrospective of his best work at the Bradenton Herald titled “Conscience of the Community: Memoir of a Small Town Editor,” was published in 2020. He also continued to occasionally contribute columns to the Bradenton Herald.

He was at work on a novel at the time of his death.

“David was one of the most thoughtful, most community minded journalists I have worked with in my career, and that was always reflected in his writing,” said Marc R. Masferrer, president and editor of the Herald. “He also had an extraordinary command of the language, which always helped him make his point quite clearly — and often, quite bitingly — when writing about issues important to our readers.

“It was a joy for me to edit some of his final contributions to the Herald,” Masferrer said.

Mr. Klement was born and grew up on a dairy farm in Muenster, Texas, to John A. and Olivia Otto Klement, who were first-generation descendants of German pioneers in that farming community north of Dallas. He earned a bachelor’s in journalism from the University of North Texas and, 30 years later, a master’s in mass communication from the University of South Florida.

He married Jo Anne Patterson Ramming on Oct. 14, 1977.

“David and I met shortly after I had started my career at the Manatee Bureau of the St. Petersburg Times,” Mrs. Klement said Wednesday. “With no training in journalism or writing, plus not knowing how to type, I fell in love with what would turn out to an exciting and addicting career for decades.

“David was seven years older than me and evolving into a reformed bachelor. Meaning, he was thinking maybe a wife and kids could be a good thing in his life. Ironically, he thought at 37 he had missed his chance until he met a newly divorced mother with two kids, age four and six. And when he discovered she was a journalist, that nailed it, he would always say. So he was thrilled and she was equally.

“In my mind, it was a match made in heaven, a romance that was fresh even after 42 years,” Mrs. Klement said.

Survivors include his wife; children Sara King of Bradenton and Max Ramming of Atlanta; five grandchildren: Emma, Matthew and Will King of Bradenton, and Connor and Parker Ramming of Atlanta; his brother Jerry Klement of Temple, Texas, and sister Betty Jean Bindel of Muenster.

He was a member of Peace Presbyterian Church, where he was an Elder and member of the church governing board.

Services at Peace Presbyterian Church will only be for family and invited guests. Griffith-Cline Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. Burial will be in Fogartyville Cemetery in Bradenton. Memorial donations may be made to the Peace Presbyterian Church Building Fund, 12705 State Road 64 E., Bradenton 34212.

This story was originally published June 9, 2021 at 10:09 AM.