Obit

Photo from Zena O’Rourke official Twitter account.

Zena O’Rourke, 53

AWARD-WINNING BRITISH EDITOR Zena O’Rourke died after a year-long battle with cancer Friday, June 10. She was 53.

O’Rourke was the  editor of the Cornish Guardian and the Somerset County Gazette. She edited the Guardian for six years before leaving in April 2015 to pursue her dream of editing her hometown paper, the Gazette. (“Former weekly editor dies aged 53 after year-long cancer fight,” HoldTheFrontPage.co.uk, June 15, 2016)

O’Rourke’s stay in the Gazette  proved short-lived as she had to step down by December 2015 due to her lingering illness.

The Guardian won a number of awards during her watch at the Guardian, including being named paid-for weekly newspaper of the year at the EDF Energy South West Media Awards in 2011.She then received the national award for Weekly Newspaper of the Year at the 2011 Newspaper Awards.

Friends and Colleagues mourned the passing of O’Rourke. Ken Bird, her former editor, remembered her as a dear friend. “Yes, Zena was an outstanding journalist but that was only the tip of the iceberg. She was a wonderfully warm human being – bubbling with infectious enthusiasm and razor-sharp wit. A journo’s journo if ever there was one,” Bird said. (“Editor of two South West weeklies Zena O’Rourke dies aged 53: ‘A true newspaper enthusiast’,” PrezzGazette.co.uk, June 15, 2016)

O’Rourke’s funeral service will be held at 11am on Saturday June 18^th.