Former Santa Rosa publisher Evert Person dies

Evert Person

Evert Bertil Person, former publisher of The Press Democrat in Santa Rosa, died Tuesday at his winter home in the Palm Springs area of Riverside County at age 96. The PD reported that he had been in failing health for a month and died of complications from pneumonia. He retired from the newspaper business in 1985. His family started the paper and he sold it to The New York Times Co. in 1985 for an undisclosed amount. Through two charitable foundations and on his own, Person donated about $40 million to the community including the city of Santa Rosa, Sonoma State University, Sonoma County Museum, Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital and the Burbank Center for the Arts.