MacLeod Bellune told me her husband got to know his nurses’ life stories, even in his final days.

To founder and former editor of the Lexington County Chronicle Jerry Odom Bellune, interviewing someone just meant talking to them. No change in mindset appeared necessary for him, whereas for me, sometimes getting in the mindset to interview someone takes a minute.

In talking to MacLeod, however, it was evident that Jerry, a far more experienced editor than I, was a journalist regardless of whether he was wearing a press pass or not. Getting to know people was his life’s work.

Jerry passed away on April 15, just 15 days before his 90th birthday. His journalism career spanned decades, states and countries. He even titled his own obituary, “Much-feared editor expires,” which can be found at the bottom of this story.

MacLeod said that when she met Jerry 62 years ago at The State Newspaper, it took her a minute to warm up to him.

“He was just very intense about journalism,” she said. “He taught me more than anybody else did.”

Since his passing, MacLeod told me she’s heard from countless people telling her similar sentiments, or that he was the best boss they ever had.

Chronicle columnists Daisy Harman and Val Augustine, who worked with Jerry for many years, remember when Jerry first welcomed their writing in Chronicle ink.

Here are their experiences with Jerry on the Chronicle in their own words, because he loved their own words.

Daisy Harman

“While we mourn the passing of our dear friend, Jerry, author, recipient of numerous awards and editor, we pause to remember the Jerry we knew and loved.

First of all, Jerry was a pleasure, and his presence was impactful. His love for family, friends and Lexington exceeded all expectations. Jerry’s sense of humor was so much his personality.

He was an optimist and found a positive in any situation. While being wheeled into serious surgery, he still joked with nurses and attendants. He faced adversity with courage and optimism. Always finding humor, he would have laughed at ‘leaving this world’ on the eve of income tax day!

Jerry once had a four-legged friend, Snoop, who accompanied him to the office and, in fact, had his own column in the Chronicle.

Jerry spoke several months ago at a Shepherd’s Center Lunch Program. He mentioned the time years ago when I came to his office on North Lake Drive and expressed my wish to be on his Chronicle staff. With a ‘Jerry’ smile and a ‘yes,’ the rest is history.

In his talk he named eight topics of importance in your life. The last and most important was your legacy. What will your footprint say about you?

Well Jerry, your impact has been made. Your legacy of love, laughter and words of wisdom has made its lasting footprint.”

Val Augustine

“In the fall of 1993, I interviewed for a part-time freelance position with Jerry Bellune for the newly formed Lexington County Chronicle. In my interview, he said he wanted to have local people writing weekly columns for the towns in our Lexington County where they lived. I told Jerry I lived in Gilbert, and he asked me if I would write a weekly news column covering both Gilbert and Summit. The Town of Summit is three miles from Gilbert, and I said yes, I would love to.

Jerry Bellune said he believed I would always do a good job, and soon I was going to weekly journalism classes he taught at the Chronicle. His classes taught me and the new writers he hired how to write in Associated Press style.

Now, 33 years later, I am still writing my Gilbert-Summit column for the Chronicle. I did not know it back then but this opportunity Jerry Bellune gave to me would be a blessing. I began to set up appointments to meet people and attend town council meetings in Gilbert and Summit. I joined several local clubs and met people who said they would love to send me news. I was asked to attend grand openings of local businesses, cover events at churches, events at the Gilbert-Summit Senior Center, parades, the Lexington County Peach Festival and more.

I have covered festivals with my photography and have learned so much because Jerry gave me that chance years ago to be part of his team. I will always cherish those years getting to know him, his family and writing for the Chronicle.

Covering news for this weekly column was not a job to me but a blessing. I will always be thankful I was offered this part-time position because it has enriched my life in so many ways.

Rest in peace Jerry Bellune.”

Chronicle days

MacLeod said running the Chronicle with Jerry was hard work, but their son eventually came to Lexington and was put to work so MacLeod and Jerry could travel, another love of Jerry’s. She laughed remembering a time they got stuck in Tahiti.

“It was just a fun time,” she said. “We had fun together.”

Not only would Jerry serve Lexington by reporting on it, but he would also physically step in when the community needed help. MacLeod told me that when St. John Baptist Church in Dixiana was burned down in 1995, Jerry first reported on it, then got to work rebuilding it with others.

“They’d all go down there and work their butts off,” she said.

Director of the Lexington County Museum J.R. Fennell told me Jerry’s involvement in the community extended to the museum, too.

“He was always very supportive of the museum and was always interested in hearing stories and anecdotes from the history of the county,” he said. “I enjoyed talking with him over the years.”

Jack and Kyle Osteen bought the Chronicle from the Bellunes in 2021, and I started working at the Chronicle in 2024, so I never got to know Jerry, but I often hear from readers that they loved the Bellunes. And in talking to folks in preparation for this article, it’s evident why. Jerry and MacLeod love the Chronicle because they love its readers.

My bosses at Osteen Publishing, Jack, Kyle and Vince Johnson, say they’re honored to be able to continue the Bellunes’ legacy with the Chronicle, as am I.

“Jerry dedicated his life to telling stories of his community with integrity, grit and a deep belief that local journalism matters. He leaves behind a legacy of not just an editor and newspaper owner but a life well lived in service to others.”

It’s incredibly fitting that such an accomplished writer wrote his own obituary, so I must include it here, in its entirety, headline, too.

“Much-feared editor expires.”

Editor Jerry Odom Bellune said he wanted his obituary to read: "Much-feared editor expires."

When Jerry Bellune lost his hair, his enemies wondered where he hid his horns.

Bellune was born in Greenville, S.C., the son of Dr. A.E. Bellune and Marion Elizabeth Odom Bellune.

He was a graduate of The Baylor School, a military school at the time, in Chattanooga, Tenn.

After two years of service in the U.S. Army as a United Nations peacekeeper in South Korea, he worked as an editor at The Greenville News and attended Furman University, but left for a job as an editor at the Charlotte, N.C. News.

At The State Newspaper in Columbia, he met his wife, Mary MacLeod Hardy, a graduate of the University of South Carolina. They were married more than 61 years.

He has worked as an editor at 23 daily and weekly newspapers. As executive editor of the Courier-Post in Cherry Hill, N.J., he launched a Sunday edition. In 1979, the newspaper published articles on malfeasance in a monastic order that won the Pulitzer Prize.

He has reported from the White House, the United Nations and the Middle East.

He liked to joke that he sounded like a guy who could not hold a job.

Bellune has coached editors and reporters at more than two dozen newspapers across the country and edited four magazines. In 1984, he and his wife bought a failing weekly newspaper, The Dispatch-News in Lexington, S.C. They turned it into a highly profitable, award-winning newspaper.

After disagreements with their partners, the Bellunes left The Dispatch-News and launched the Lexington County Chronicle in 1992. After nine years of competition between the two local newspapers, the owner of The Dispatch-News sold them his newspaper.

In 2006, Bellune semi-retired from the Chronicle, and his son Mark succeeded him as editor.

In retirement, Bellune started Riverbanks Press, publishing books and self-study courses.

Bellune is a former president of the N.J. Associated Press Managing Editors Association and the South Carolina Press Association and has been named its Journalist of the Year. He served as a board member of the Carolinas chapter of the National Speakers Association and Toastmasters International, where he helped establish three chapters and served as president and area governor.

He was a long-suffering fan of the University of South Carolina Gamecocks.

Survivors include his wife, MacLeod, and sons David and Mark.

He donated his body to the University of South Carolina School of Medicine. No services are planned, but a celebration of life will be held at a later date.