Helene Foellinger was 70, and there was no family member poised to take over The News-Sentinel, in 1980, when she sold News Publishing, along with the 55% share of Fort Wayne Newspapers, to Knight-Ridder in 1980.
In the 1980s, The News-Sentinel was still the dominant newspaper in Fort Wayne, with daily circulation in excess of 60,000, compared to about 10,000 less for The Journal Gazette.