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Former Press Democrat society editor dies

Roby Gemmell, the Santa Rosa Press Democrat’s society editor from 1950 to 1975, died Saturday of pneumonia at age 92. In an obit running Tuesday, longtime PD reporter and columnist Gaye LeBaron called Gemmell “the quintessential society editor … She was hired to get people’s names in the paper and, boy, Roby did it.” Former PD Editor Art Volkerts said Gemmell and the pages she created are missed. “They took care of the anniversaries, the weddings, engagements — and I think a lot of that in today’s news mix is missing,” Volkerts said. “I think we are missing a good part of the community life by totally ignoring those sort of things.”

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