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The 52-year-old Lea began his newspaper career 34 years ago working at the Chesaning-Montrose Argus under his mentor Art McGinnis. He also had stints with the Saginaw Valley News Inc. publishing company, owned by long-time Chesaning businessman Victor Shapley, working as an editor, a sports editor and chief photographer.

Since 1983 Lea has guided the Citizen. Under his ownership the newspaper grew from a 12-page edition with just over 8,000 circulation to become Saginaw County's largest circulation weekly newspaper reaching 19,000 homes each Sunday.

In 2001 Lea sold the newspaper to 21st Century Newspapers and stayed on as publisher, active in all aspects of the papers operations including management, marketing, news reporting, sports and photography. The Citizen was sold four years ago to Journal Register Company that operates daily and weekly newspapers along with shopping guides throughout Michigan.

Melissa Lea came to the Citizen in 1997 as an advertising sales representative and was named Advertising Director less than a year later.

"Melissa and I have been fortunate to work as a team for more than a decade at the Citizen. The tremendous support we have received from local businesses and the communities we serve makes the Citizen unique among weekly newspapers and we are so proud to have had the opportunity to serve all of you," said Lea.

"This decision is all about family," Lea added. "It is an opportunity for Melissa and our two children to be closer to her family out west. Melissa has graciously allowed me to pursue my dream job for the past 10 years and to extend a career that has spanned more than three decades in the local newspaper business. It is time for me to give something back to my family after years of being away nights and weekends.

"Without question this is one of the most difficult decisions we have ever made because of the hundreds of friends and associates we leave behind. It is particularly difficult to leave our Citizen family of co-workers. They are simply the best. No where else will you find people as committed to community newspapers.

"I am confident the solid tradition we have built here at the Citizen will be carried on by our successors," added Lea.

President & Publisher of Journal Register's Lapeer Group, Bill Southern, will act as interim publisher of the Citizen, and indicated that a search for new leadership for the Citizen is underway. "I appreciate the dedication and energy of both Dan and Melissa in building this business over the years," Southern said. "Given their connection to the communities in which the Citizen publishes they will be tough to replace. But, we remain committed to serving the needs of readers and advertisers of the Tri-County Citizen and look to place strong, local leaders in Chesaning very soon."