George B. Delaplaine Jr.
Former Board Member
George B. Delaplaine, Jr. served as past President and CEO of the Great Southern Printing and Manufacturing Company trading as The Frederick News-Post, GS Communications, Inc., The Job Shop and GS Net.Works. He held positions of editor and publisher and columnist of the newspapers, and is currently President of Great Southern Enterprises, Inc. and Chairman/Founder of Delaplaine Foundation, Inc.
A native of Frederick, Maryland and a grandson of William T. Delaplaine, the newspaper founder, Mr. Delaplaine had been associated full-time with the newspaper from 1949 up until the sale of the newspaper in March, 2001. He had joined the family newspaper operation following service in the U.S. Navy in World War II, graduation from the Johns Hopkins University and postgraduate studies at Rutgers University.
Mr. Delaplaine spearheaded the newspaper’s conversion to offset printing and new advances in the composing, computer and cable fields. It was Mr. Delaplaine’s visionary leadership which led the company to get involved with cable television in 1966 and to grow the business into a four-state territory.
During his business career with Great Southern and The News-Post he was instrumental in donating to the City of Frederick the old Mountain City Mill property on South Carroll Street, which now serves as the Delaplaine Visual Arts Education Center. The company also contributed sufficient funds to both the Delaplaine and the National Museum of Civil War Medicine to match state grants of $1 million from the State of Maryland to each of those civic ventures and Mr. Delaplaine has provided ongoing personal funds for sustaining both.
In business he also served as Chairman of the Board, vice president and director of The Frederick Brick Works and Secretary and director of the National Museum of Civil War Medicine. He was a founding investor of Maryland Life magazine and served as Chair of the Board of Managers for Great State Publishing, LLC, publishers of Maryland Life from 2005 through 2013 when the magazine ceased publication. He served as a director of Maryland Blue Shield, Inc., of F&M Bank, and is a past president of the Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association where in 1993 he was inducted into the MDDC Newspaper Hall of Fame and is also a past president of Maryland-Delaware Cable TV Association, now known as Maryland – Delaware – DC Telecommunications Association.
Mr. Delaplaine is a past president of the Frederick Jaycees and the Kiwanis Club of Frederick. He has served with the United Way, Red Cross, and is a past president of Maryland Region II, Emergency Medical Services serving Frederick and Washington Counties. He is a Mason, a member of the Fraternal Order of Eagles, Sons of the American Revolution, and is an active member and lay reader at Grace Episcopal Church in New Market.
In addition, he is a recipient of the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award (1997) and Scouting’s Silver Beaver award. As a result of his support and involvement with the Boys Scouts of America, in 1995 the National Capital Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America established the “George B. Delaplaine” Distinguished Citizen Dinner which has continued as an annual event since. Mr. Delaplaine has received an Honorary Doctorate in Humanities degree from both Mount St. Mary’s University and Hood College, and was named Master Entrepreneur in 1999 in Maryland’s Entrepreneur of the Year program. A strong advocate for the arts and higher education, the Delaplaine Visual Arts Education Center in Frederick, MD bears the family name and likewise, at Mount St. Mary’s University, the Delaplaine Fine Arts Building is named for the support received from George and Bettie Delaplaine.
Mr. Delaplaine was inducted into the Entrepreneurial Hall of Fame by the Frederick County Chamber of Commerce and was selected as a Distinguished Alumni of Frederick High School for the 2010 inaugural inductees. He has been honored by his long term colleagues and business associates and his family at the National Cable Center in Denver, Colorado with the George B. Delaplaine Jr. Visiting News and Information Bureau. In March, 2012 he was the recipient of the Distinguished Service Award presented by the American Trauma Society – Maryland Division for his tireless service of more than 38 years on behalf of emergency medical service for the state of Maryland. In 2014 he and his wife Bettie received the highest recognition conveyed by Frederick Memorial Hospital in being honored with the Good Samaritan Award for selfless commitment to improving the quality of life in Frederick County by Frederick Memorial Hospital. The Delaplaines were lead donors for The Inn at Claggett Center of the Episcopal Church of the Diocese of Maryland in Buckeystown, Md. which just opened in 2014. His life’s story was conveyed through a biographical documentary which was released in March, 2016 entitled “George B. Delaplaine, Jr: A Peerless Legacy. His biography is included in the current listings of Who’s Who In the World.
Mr. Delaplaine and his late wife Bettie have four sons and five grandchildren.