The Life and Times of John Charles Tompkins

John’s Favorite Scriptures

JOHN was born in Greensboro, North Carolina to John Edward Tompkins and Hilda (Ebbers) Tompkins. Both of John’s parent’s were from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

As fate would have it — or perhaps, God’s divine purpose — ink ran through the veins of the Tompkins family. As a young child in the harsh winters of Canada, John Sr. took on the job of paperboy and worked his way to the top ending up at The Edmonton Bulletin. During the war, Hilda Ebbers took on a reporting job at The Bulletin. She caught the attention of many — endearingly known as “Jeep” because she was small and fast. John Sr. took notice too . . . a “special” notice.

After marriage, John and Hilda eventually landed in the U.S. where John began a long career with Howard Publications. Their work took them from Pocatello, Idaho to Greensboro, N.C. (where John and his brother Michael were born) to Chester, Pennsylvania (where his sister Patricia was born) to Hammond, Indiana where John Sr. became Publisher of The Hammond Times where he affectionately became known as “The Black Knight” because he always wore a black suit, tie and black shoes. Both John and his brother Mike began their newspaper careers in their youth at The Times. Like his father, John began as a paperboy and worked his way through the many departments of the news business learning what it took to run a newspaper.

Anyone that knew John would tell you he was a serious young man (and kid!) with a very strong will. John spent one year at Culver Military Academy and then went on to attend Illiana Christian High School where at the age of seventeen he met a young and shy fifteen-year-old named Cindy Hardcastle. John and Cindy dated through high school before John went off to Calvin College. After two years at Calvin, Cindy joined John there. They got married during her first year of college, but had to return to Hammond for John to help his father at The Hammond Times during a strike by the International Typographical Union.

Although John grew up in a Dutch Christian Reformed Church, Cindy’s mother told him he had to attend First Baptist Hammond in order to continue dating Cindy. Not many people could tell John what to do, but there was one person that was as tough as him — Eleanor Hardcastle, his mother-in-law. John loved hearing Dr. Jack Hyles speak at First Baptist. Faith was a huge part of John’s life. In the Baptist church he went door-to-door soul winning every Saturday. Later in life he taught an ever-growing Sunday School class at Rockford First Assembly (now City First Church) and also spent time mentoring young men. Not only was John passionate about teaching others the importance of knowing God’s Word and how to study it, he was passionate about giving financially and building God’s Kingdom. Even into his last years, friends report how John would speak to them about his faith, pray with them, and invite them to learn how to study the Bible.

An entrepreneur at heart John wasn’t satisfied to work himself into a publishing position and remain in that role. He was a visionary and had dreams to build his own media company. It was after one of Dr. Jack Hyles’s sermons “Seven Steps to Success” that John put together on a napkin his plan to purchase his first newspaper. After gathering a few investors, among family and friends, at the young age of twenty-one, in 1975, John purchased his first newspaper, The Rochelle News-Leader in Rochelle, Illinois. John and Cindy packed what little possessions they had and left the city life of Chicago for a farm town in rural Rochelle.

John was an avid reader and believed he could learn anything from books. He devoured biographies and business books learning from the mistakes and successes of others. Studying the likes of Rupert Murdoch, The Scripps Family, and the newspapermen of London’s Fleet Street (to name a few) John was eager to begin looking for acquisitions. In 1978 (?) he purchased his second community newspaper in Central Illinois, The Clinton Daily Journal. And from there, he established News Media Corporation. With his brother Mike working by his side, he continued to acquire community newspapers for the next three decades in a span of nine different states. John not only knew the newspaper business, he knew people. He cared for his employees whom he always referred to as his “business family.” He also cared for and took great pride in the communities, and their histories, that News Media serves.

John and Cindy had three children together: Trina Marie born in 1977; John Warren (known as J.J.) born in 1979; and Amy Lynn born in 1981. At different times, in their own ways, each child has learned elements of the newspaper business and worked for News Media Corporation. Presently, J.J. Tompkins serves as CEO and President; Trina is a published author and Amy an artist and filmmaker. All children have an affinity for writing stories, print, and publishing. Ink still runs strong through the Tompkins veins.