BARRINGTON -- Robert P. Jagolinzer, a reporter for The Providence Journal for more than half of his 60 years, and president of the Providence Newspaper Guild, was found dead in the Warren River early yesterday.
Police found Mr. Jagolinzer's body near the north dock of the Striper Marina, where he berthed his 21-foot boat, the Gone Fishin'. He'd apparently fallen from the dock or his boat, and his body was found near low tide around 12:45 a.m., Police Chief John M. LaCross said.
Mr. Jagolinzer's family learned yesterday that he had suffered a brain aneurism and when he passed out, he fell into the water and drowned, said his daughter, Christina Jagolinzer-Machado. She said the information was listed on his death certificate.
Marina manager Al Elson said Mr. Jagolinzer apparently spent his last hours netting herring from the shores of nearby Brickyard Pond, so he would have live bait for a fishing trip this weekend. Mr. Jagolinzer drove from the salt pond to the marina, apparently to transfer the herring from his cooler into an underwater pen, or "live well," that he tethered to the pier in front of his boat.
Elson said Mr. Jagolinzer came to the marina alone Thursday about 7:30 p.m. and was the last person there when Elson left at 8:30 p.m. When Mr. Jagolinzer didn't come home by 11 p.m., his wife, Helen, called the police to say he had planned to be home by 9 p.m. and was overdue.
When she called again at 12:35 a.m., LaCross said, an officer checked the marina and spotted Mr. Jagolinzer 7 feet below the pier on the river bottom, exposed as the tide dropped.
Mr. Jagolinzer, who lived at 12 Barton Ave. in Warren, grew up in Bristol. Known by his colleagues as "Jag," he joined The Providence Journal in 1969 and worked in news bureaus in Pawtucket, Woonsocket, Warren, Greenville, Fall River, South County and, most recently, Johnston.
"He really knew the state because he had been doing this for so long, and he traveled through almost all of the bureaus," said retired Journal editor Gerald Goldstein, who had supervised Mr. Jagolinzer in the South County bureau. "He really knew the face of community Rhode Island."
Johnston Mayor William R. Macera said, "He was a staple presence in Town Hall, and we will truly miss him. Even though he covered often-heated and controversial local political topics, Bob was a professional in his field, and his reporting always reflected a fair and accurate form of journalism."
The Rhode Island Press Association last night honored Mr. Jagolinzer with a "Spirit of Rhode Island Award" for a story he wrote about Johnston losing its designation as the American town with the highest percentage of Italian Americans. He was selected as a second-place winner in that category before his death.
Mr. Jagolinzer was 27 when he joined The Journal, following in the footsteps of his late father, Sidney Jagolinzer; the elder Jagolinzer worked for The Journal from 1942 until his death, in 1965, when he managed the East Bay office.
Carol J. Young, the Journal's deputy executive director, broke into the business under the tutelage of Sidney Jagolinzer in 1965. "Bob was like his father in many ways: a tough-talking, blustery character who enjoyed confronting recalcitrant public officials," Young said. "But, on the inside, he was just an old softy."
Mr. Jagolinzer's byline appeared on the front page 90 times in the past 20 years, including the story "A heart for Helen," a first-person piece about his wife's heart transplant in 1997.
Mr. Jagolinzer was the kind of guy who stuck to a good thing when he found it: he lived in the East Bay all his life; he kept his boats at the same marina for 20 years; worked at The Journal for 34 years; and this year, he marked the 30th annivesary of his marriage to Helen (Mirka) Jagolinzer. They had a daughter, Christina Jagolinzer-Machado, and an 8-year-old granddaughter, Jordyn Nichole Jagolinzer-Machado.
Mr. Jagolinzer wrote under the byline "Bob Jagolinzer," preferring it to the more formal Robert. Before writing for The Journal, he worked as an employment counselor for the state, taught school in Warren and in Swansea, and wrote for the public affairs office of Naval Station Newport.
He earned a bachelor's degree in social studies from Boston College, and a master's degree in journalism from Boston University. Mr. Jagolinzer had taught journalism for many years at Providence College's School of Continuing Education.
Mr. Jagolinzer won a special election to become secretary of the Providence Newspaper Guild in 1990, was elected vice president in 1997, and became Guild president in 1998. He was elected president annually after that, without opposition. The Newspaper Guild/Communciations Workers of America Local 31041 represents 420 advertising, editorial, and maintenance workers at The Providence Journal, and 220 workers at the Worcester Telegram.
"You'd meet this short little guy with this uncombed shock of hair who swore like a sailor, but who cared deeply about his wife, and family, and fellow Guild members," said Timothy Schick, Newspaper Guild administrator.
Fishing, too, was a passion. "He caught some nice fish," said Charlie Brown, a charter captain and fellow member of the Bristol County Striper Club. "He caught a 600-pound giant tuna. He'd done some sailfishing when he was on vacation a couple of times.
"He was a character, yes. Guys used to tease him," said Brown, because he was not mechanical, had a poor sense of direction, and frequently arrived on a fishing ground just as the bite cooled off. "But he always produced fish. Sometimes he was just a day late."
Jim Polando, another Striper Club member, said that on Mother's Day this year the stripers were really biting off Prudence Island; as usual, Mr. Jagolinzer was late getting off the dock.
Mr. Jagolinzer's distinctive voice came over the radio with his signature call of: "You doing anything?" meaning, are you finding any fish?
Striper Club members will let another club member know where the fish are, sometimes by speaking in code.
"We directed him right to the fish," Polando said. "He got a 22-pound fish," a striper, more than a yard long. "I feel good in my mind to know that he had a real good day that day."
The funeral will be held Tuesday at 9 a.m. from Sansone Funeral Home, Wood Street, Bristol, with a Mass of Christian Burial at 10 in St. Mary of the Bay Church, Warren.
