Norma Person

President of the Ernest L. and Ruth W. Finley Foundation, which has jump-started and supported institutions, including Santa Rosa’s Finley Community Center, Redwood Empire Food Bank, Sonoma State University and Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital.

Person, who lives in Santa Rosa, is the widow of Evert Person, a leader in post-World War II Sonoma County and former publisher of The Press Democrat. He sold the newspaper to the New York Times Co. in 1985.

Her involvement in The Press Democrat purchase brings the deal a circular historical element. The Finley Foundation is named for Ernest Latimer Finley and his wife, Ruth. In 1895, Finley started the Evening Press newspaper and in 1897 he bought the Sonoma Democrat newspaper, creating The Press Democrat.