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Gary W. Rust — community champion, elected leader and founder of Rust Communications — dies at 89
Theodore Roosevelt’s “Man in the Arena” speech lauded those who take on challenges, shoulder responsibility, dare to excel.
Gary Wayne Rust of Cape Girardeau demonstrated that visionary character.
Heralded scholar.
Talented athlete.
Successful business founder and owner.
Elected leader.
Family patriarch.
He was born May 25, 1935. He died Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025, of natural causes. He was 89.
A native of Cape Girardeau, Rust's ties to the city remained strong throughout his life.
Baptized and confirmed at Centenary United Methodist Church, Rust would serve the congregation in a number of roles, including singing in the choir and as a Sunday school teacher. Later, he would be a charter member of La Croix United Methodist Church.
Ron Watts, senior pastor at La Croix Church, said Rust's faith guided his life.
"He thought deeply about these things. He had certain values that came from his faith," he commented. "One of Gary's deep values was truth. That was what led him into the whole newspaper world -- a passion for the truth and communicating the truth."
Salutatorian of his class at Southeast Missouri State College High School, Rust would attend University of Missouri-Columbia on an athletic scholarship and later graduate summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in retailing from Washington University in St. Louis in 1957. There, he was a member of Omicron Delta Kappa and Beta Gamma Sigma, a national business honorary fraternity.
As a supporter of Southeast Missouri State University, he served on the school’s foundation board and various committees for university planning and executive hiring. He and his wife, Wendy, earned SEMO’s Friend of the University and Sports Friend awards.
As a strapping, gifted athlete, Rust lettered in baseball and basketball for four years in high school. As an American Legion baseball player (second base), he played on two state championship teams. He would go on to earn varsity letters in baseball and basketball at Mizzou and in tennis at Washington University. He also played baseball for the famed semi-pro Capahas in Cape Girardeau. In 2015, SEMO inducted the Rust family into its Athletic Hall of Fame.
Business career
Though he worked in the family furniture retailing business (Rust & Martin) early in his career, Rust cut his entrepreneurial teeth with the company he founded in 1967, Rust Communications.
Beginning with one weekly newspaper in Cape Girardeau County, he steered the company for decades, growing it to include several dozen newspaper properties across eight states and interests in nearly 20 radio stations. Its flagship is the Southeast Missourian, and Rust served as chairman until nearly the end of his life. Several of his inspirational and explanatory quotes adorn the Southeast Missourian building, located at 301 Broadway.
Newspaper associations across the country honored him for his pioneering work in the industry — 1999 Suburban Newspapers of America Dean Lesher Award, 2002 Inland Press Association Ralph D. Casey Award and 2003 induction to the Missouri Press Association Newspaper Hall of Fame. He served as chairman of the Missouri Associated Press Editors and Publishers and was a national board member of Certified Audit of Circulation, Suburban Newspapers Association and Inland Press Association and Foundation.
Peter Kinder of Cape Girardeau, former state senator and lieutenant governor, worked for Rust on the editorial side of the business. He praised Rust's thirst for knowledge and hard work.
"He wanted to lay facts before the public and make sure the public was informed so the public could make good decisions," he explained. "That was his passion in that portion of his career, and he made an enormous difference."
Kinder recalled Rust's efforts to grow the community.
"He wanted to help business in our area. He wanted to help businesswomen and businessmen, large and small, to grow their business by telling their stories in the pages of his newspapers," he said.