Ron Woodgeard of Macon Telegraph dies at 56

MACON - Ron Woodgeard, editorial page editor and former managing editor and Capitol bureau chief of The Macon Telegraph, died Monday after a lengthy battle with cancer. <br> <br> Woodgeard, 56, was a writer, editor and columnist for the Telegraph for more than 25 years. His coverage of state government in the late 1970s and early 1980s provided him with a knowledge of politics and public policy issues that supported a career&#39;s worth of columns and editorials. <br> <br> The Columbus, Ohio, native also was intrigued by investigative reporting, an interest that evolved from being a private investigator for Pinkerton&#39;s Inc. before joining the newspaper. <br> <br> ``Private detectives are also in the information business. They just work for fewer clients,&#39;&#39; he wrote in a July 2001 column. <br> <br> Woodgeard joined the Telegraph as a copy editor in 1976 and became chief of the newspaper&#39;s Capitol bureau in 1978. <br> <br> He was promoted to managing editor of the Telegraph in January 1982. He supervised a project that in 1985 won a Pulitzer Prize for reporters Randall Savage and Jackie Crosby for their investigation of the handling of scholarship athletes&#39; academic deficiencies at the University of Georgia and Georgia Tech. <br> <br> Woodgeard is survived by his parents, Mary Lois and Mack L. Woodgeard of Riverdale; two sons, Christopher Woodgeard of Athens and Lucas Woodgeard of Macon; a sister, Sue Hart of Cumming; and two brothers, Harley Woodgeard of Decatur and Larry Woodgeard of Lawrenceville. <br> <br> There will be a memorial service at 11 a.m. Thursday at Vineville United Methodist Church.

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