Deceased 7/6/1991

Article Headline: “Ex-publisher, kite fan dies”

Former Manistee News Advocate publisher and kite enthusiast Cris Batdorff, 45, died Saturday after suffering a heart attack at a Cherry Festival stunt kitting event at the Grand Traverse Resort.

Batdorff, a member of a publishing family that once owned the Traverse City Record-Eagle, published the News Advocate for several years until he sold it to his brother, John Austin Batdorff in 1985 to pursue another passion, kites.

In addition to being the owner of the Sand Castle, a kite and novelty store in Manistee, he founded and published the Stunt Kite Quarterly and the Bitters Report.

Ron Steinberg – a fellow member of the Manistee Downtown Development Authority with Batdorff and former advertising director at the News Advocate – called Batdorff’s death a “tremendous loss. He was a forward-looking businessman,” He said Batdorff was instrumental in creating a riverwalk along the Manistee River behind downtown businesses and was considering an extension of his business to face the riverwalk.

Obituary:

Cris H. Batdorff, former publisher of the Manistee News Advocate, died Saturday at Grand Traverse Community Hospital in Traverse City. He was 45.

At the time of his death, he was founding publisher of Stunt Kite Quarterly and The Bitters Report.

He was the grandson of Austin Batdorff, who bought the Traverse City Record-Eagle in 1917. The Batdorff family owned and operated the Record Eagle until 1972. Members of the Batdorff family still own the Big Rapids Pioneer and the Manistee News Advocate.

He was a resident of Traverse City from 1955 until his 1971 return to Manistee, where he published the News Advocate until 1985.

He was a graduate of Traverse City High School and Ferris State University.

Batdorff and his wife, Susan, were the national pairs kite champions. He volunteered, judged and competed in kite contests all over the country. He was a consultant to kite manufacturers in the United States and abroad and belonged to the American Kite Association and many other kit clubs around the globe.

Nationally known as a top authority on bitters bottles, he also owned and operated the Sand Castle in Manistee.

He was a past officer and director of Conine Publishing Co Inc and J.B. Publishing Co Inc. He as a former member of the Manistee Downtown Development Authority.

Born in Manistee on May 22, 1946, he was the son of John Howard and Arlene (Altrichter) Batdorff. On Oct. 11, 1990, in Seaside, Ore., he married the former Susan Nye, who survies.

Also surviving are his mother, Arlene Batdorff Weitz of Traverse City; a brother, John Austing “Jack” Batdorff of Big Rapids; several nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by this father, John Batdorff, in 1970.

Services will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday at First Congregational Church in Traversie City. Dr. Gary Hogue will officiate. Burial will be in Oakwood Cemetery.

Friends may visit from 7 to 9 tonight and from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday at Reynolds Jonkhoff Funeral Home in Traverse City.

Memorials may be directed to the American Kite Association, 1559 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852