Henry Moss Vance, the longtime managing editor of The Woodford Sun, died
Tuesday, March 19, 2024.
Mr. Vance began his 37-year career as managing editor of the Sun in
1964, and said his proudest achievement was putting together a special
edition commemorating the bicentennial of Woodford County in 1989.
Reflecting on his newspaper career before being inducted into the
Woodford County Public Schools Hall of Fame in 2018 for his
distinguished career at The Woodford Sun, Mr. Vance said he never wanted
to be seen as leaning to one side. “I wanted to be fair and in the
middle,” he said. His aim was simple: “I wanted to have The Woodford Sun
as a good voice in the community…”
A Woodford County native, Mr. Vance was born Nov. 18, 1928 and graduated
from Versailles High School in 1946 at age 17. He served as a page in
the U. S. Senate in 1945, attending the U.S. Capitol Pages School, while
Sen. A. B. “Happy” Chandler was in office.
After high school, Mr. Vance enlisted in the Army, where he served from
June 1946 to May 1948, including 19 months with occupation forces in
Japan, during which he said his “eyes were opened to the world” and the
beauty of other cultures and places. Years later, Mr. Vance said that
led him to pursue travel after his retirement.
Mr. Vance returned to Kentucky for college, but was recalled to active
duty during the Korean Conflict, serving at Fort Campbell from October
1950 to September 1951. He received his U. S. Air Force Reserve
Commission through the ROTC program at the University of Kentucky in 1953.
Mr. Vance received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Radio, Television, and
Film from the School of Journalism at UK in 1954.
During his college years, Vance worked in radio – first at WVLK in
Versailles and later as WEKY’s first announcer when the station went on
the air Oct. 17, 1953.
After graduation, Mr. Vance went to work at WHAS-TV in Louisville as a
producer/director, with some television appearances along the way.
There, he worked with some of Louisville’s foremost journalists. From
1956 to 1959, he worked in Public Relations for the Kentucky Department
of Public Safety, Kentucky State Police division.
Mr. Vance found his true calling in 1960 when Ben Chandler, his closest
friend and publisher of the Sun, hired him as news editor. He was
promoted to managing editor in 1964.
Mr. Vance took a two-year break from the newspaper when he worked for
Texas Instruments in Versailles, and returned to the Sun because of his
love for the newspaper business. He remained until his retirement in
2001. He said, “It was much more interesting to be in control of what
you do yourself instead of being controlled from elsewhere” – TI was
based in Massachusetts.
Mr. Vance believed it was the responsibility of a community newspaper to
provide in-depth local news in a fair, balanced, and most importantly,
accurate manner. He wanted to make sure that the citizens of Woodford
County knew what their local government was doing. The Sun covered
government meetings proceedings, as well as all manner of public
records, never hiding identities, “even in (his) own family,” he said
with a chuckle during one of the several Oral History Projects for which
he was interviewed. His many editorials were (mostly) favorites in the
community, but the one that stands out in memory is his “Annual Plea for
Silence on Sundays.” He knew it was a losing battle to hope for no
lawnmowers disturbing his Sunday afternoons on his back porch, reading
the newspaper and listening to the birds. His children and grandchildren
have carried on the tradition of never mowing the grass or doing other
noisy yard work on Sundays.
Mr. Vance also thought it was very important to print the news from the
small communities in the county: Clover Bottom, Millville, Nonesuch and
others. He said it gave his readers a way to stay in touch with the
entire county.
Mr. Vance was an ardent supporter of the arts – acting and singing in
plays at the Guignol Theater while attending UK. He sang with a local
barbershop chorus and with his church choir for more than 50 years. He
was active in classical music, opera and theater circles, and was a
music reviewer for 20 years.
One of his greatest joys was singing with his friends at parties. They
would gather around the piano and sing for hours – much to his
children’s delight. He wanted his children and grandchildren exposed to
music early and often, and they all played instruments.
Mr. Vance was a former member of the Versailles United Way board and the
Versailles Rotary Club. He served on various committees, including doing
a turn as General LaFayette in the Woodford County Bicentennial
Celebration, as well as several other community productions.
Mr. Vance called St. John’s Episcopal Church home from 1950 until the
end of his life. In addition to singing in the choir, he acted as Lay
Reader, Chalice Bearer and Vestry member.
After retirement, Mr. Vance spent many years taking cruises, including
on the Queen Mary. He traveled to many European countries, and his
favorite was Venice, Italy. He attended many theater and music festivals
over the years, including at Ravinia and Stratford, and kept posters and
scrapbooks he loved to share with family and friends.
Preceding Vance in death were his three siblings, Kenneth Vance, Don
Vance and Anita Vance Wash. He is survived by children and grandchildren
Laura (Jeff) Gibson and Anne-Claire Gibson, of Versailles; Eric (Julie
Kiang) Vance, Reston, VA; Marc Vance, Newport News, VA: Shelby (Thom)
Vance, Lexington; Elizabeth Vance and Rebecca Vance, Anderson, IN;
Glenna Wash, Lexington; Sister-in-law Evalena Vance, Hixson, TN; and
nieces Glenna Wash, Lexington; Rhonda (Don) Abbott, Soddy Daisy, TN;
Freda (Randy) Keener, Knoxville, TN.
The funeral will be held Saturday, March 23 at 1 p.m. at St. John’s
Episcopal Church, 210 N. Main Street, Versailles, Ky. There will be no
visitation before the funeral. There will be a reception immediately
following at the church. Memorials are suggested to the Woodford Humane
Society, Lexington Philharmonic, or Kentucky Educational Television.