Comic strips Editorial cartooning Obituary

Jerry Fearing – RIP

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D. D. Degg October 14, 2024 1 minute 9 comments

Editorial and comic strip cartoonist Jerry Fearing has passed away.

Jerry’s son Mark spread the word to friends that his father has passed.

From the family obituary:

Renowned cartoonist, Jerry Fearing died peacefully in the early morning of October 12, 2024 in Rochester Minnesota at the age of 94…

Jerry was best known for his editorial cartoons which were published in the St Paul Dispatch and Pioneer Press beginning in the 1960’s until his retirement in1994. However, through the years Jerry wrote and illustrated many books including: The Story of Minnesota, Christmas on West Seventh Street and Campfire Tales. His illustrated series on The Fish of Minnesota, The World of Pets and The Animals of Como Zoo which originally ran in the Pioneer Press Sunday comic pages. Throughout his years at the newspaper his unique crowd cartoons often published as magazine covers featuring the Minnesota State Fair, the St Paul Winter Carnival or Christmas shopping which became favorites of many readers.

In the 1980’s Jerry’s nationally syndicated comic strip Rooftop O’Toole ran in over 120 newspapers. Rooftop and his dog Rufus delivered the daily newspaper to the Whitehouse, so he as able to blend political references into his comic approach. The strip celebrated a different time in American politics with humor and pathos. He was also a co-founder of the Twin Cities Chapter the Laurel and Hardy Blockheads fan club.

From a Lot-Art biography:

Minnesota cartoonist Jerry Fearing was beloved for his work at the St. Paul Dispatch and Pioneer Press, as well as his children’s books, which playfully celebrate Minnesota life. Born in St. Paul in 1930, Fearing drew constantly while growing up. He later described the need to draw as a compulsion, a drive he could not prevent. He would spend hours poring over comic books, learning from the art he saw there. He began his career at the St. Paul Dispatch and Pioneer Press shortly after graduating high school. He began working for the advertising department delivering proofs, but soon moved up to illustrating ads for them, and from there, to being a full-on illustrator and cartoonist for the paper.

His Dispatch and Pioneer Press employment was interrupted by military service. Returning to the paper he soon was promoted from advertising assistant to the editorial side and illustrating by 1955.

From the University of Minnesota:

Mr. Fearing began working at the paper as an advertising assistant and eventually, in 1959, produced a series of drawings for the Sunday edition about animals at the Como Zoo, located in St. Paul. This was his “big break,” and he went on to publish a series about the Dakota War of 1862, known as the Sioux Uprising, back in 1962, as well as a series on the native fish species in Minnesota. He published a series on the history of Minnesota that was later turned into a book that was used as a text in many elementary school classrooms around the state. He also drew several different comic strips during this time.

By the late 1950s Jerry was doing a number of recurring features for The Dispatch and The Pioneer Press. Such as:

The It Happened in Minnesota series was also known as The Minnesota Sioux Uprising and was that series that was collected as a book and taught in Minnesota schoolrooms mentioned above. Read the series/book here.

Later Jerry would do a political comic strip about St. Paul’s then mayor: Adventures of Supermayor (1971-72?)

The last half of the 1970s saw Jerry team with Pioneer Press and Dispatch editor and columnist Bill Farmer to create Rooftop O’Toole (1976-80), a strip about a kid who delivers newspapers to the White House.

Jerry’s main claim to cartooning fame was his near 30 year stint as St. Paul’s editorial cartoonist.

Back to that University of Minnesota profile:

In 1967 Mr. Fearing began drawing editorial cartoons for the paper. The topics, though generally political in nature, covered many different subjects relevant to the Twin Cities area at the time. Like most editorial cartoons they focused on public figures, sports teams, environmental issues, local government, national and local elections, businesses, transportation and international conflicts, just to name a few.

Mr. Fearing retired in 1994.

Jerry, naturally, was a regular presence in those annual Best Editorial Cartoons of the Year books:

Sincere condolences to Jerry’s family and friends.