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BOB FREER
(1948 — 2011)
Bob Freer, 63, died Aug. 15 at his home in Dripping Springs after an almost three-year long battle with colon cancer. Bob was a former publisher of the Cedar Park Citizen, Leander Ledger and North Lake Travis LOG newspapers.
Bob was born Feb. 8, 1948, in Montpelier, Vt., and grew up in Schnecectady, N.Y., and Southern California. He graduated from Buena Park High School in 1966 and later received degrees in English and journalism with a secondary teaching credential from California State University in Long Beach.
At the time of his death he was group publisher of Austin Community Newspapers Northwest. He was an avid animal lover, volunteering time as a member of the Humane Society of Williamson County. He was also on the board of the Williamson County chapter of the United Way and the Parent Board at Texas Tech University.
Bob is loved and missed by his wife of 25 years, Kim, their daughter Kyndall and many other family members and close friends.
“I really don’t know too many people who didn’t like Bob,” Kim told the Cedar Park Citizen. “This person would have given you the shirt off his back if you needed it.”
RITA GALLAGHER SMITH
(1918 — 2011)
Rita Gallagher Smith, 93, of Wylie, former publisher of The Wylie News, died Aug. 17 in Plano.
Rita was born July 20, 1918. She is a descendant of one of the first Wylie settlers, James Gallagher, and lived in Wylie her entire life.
She graduated from Ursuline Academy in Dallas in 1935 and was honored by the school as a Distinguished Alumna in 2003.
Rita started working for her father, Claude, at the C.M. Gallagher Dry Goods Store in the 1930s.
In 1938 she began her career in insurance, writing policies for the Wylie Insurance Agency, then in its infancy. The firm kept her busy and brought her success until she sold it in 1983.
In 1949 Rita married Truett Smith, local banker and publisher of The Wylie News, and they began their partnership in banking, insurance and newspaper publishing. The three businesses they owned still operate today and owe their continued longevity and success to the couple. Rita was publisher of the News after Truett’s death in 1992 until it was sold to C&S Media Inc. in 1993.
Rita served as president for several civic and service organizations and and accomplishmented many ‘firsts’ and ‘onlys’. She was a trendsetter and a role model for women in her time.
JEFF WEST
(1955 — 2011)
Jeff West, 56, a longtime Snyder Daily News staff writer, died Aug. 4 at the Cogdell Memorial Hospital in Snyder of congestive heart failure.
Jeff, who had been airlifted to Lubbock Heart Hospital three times since May, suffering from congestive heart failure, was en route back to Snyder after a doctor’s appointment in Lubbock earlier in the afternoon.
A native of Amarillo, Jeff began working at the Snyder Daily News on March 29, 2004. He had worked at several other newspapers and radio stations before beginning his job in Snyder.
“Jeff was a true reporter, always looking for answers. He will be missed by his co-workers and this community,” said Daily News Publisher Bill Crist.
“He cared about the people he worked with and the people he covered and photographed. He always ended his weekly column by encouraging us to ‘be good to one another.’”
Jeff was a veteran of the U.S. Army.
He was preceded in death by his father, Don West. Survivors include his mother, Jean West; one sister, Deborah Jean Pringle and her husband, Robert; two nephews, Casey Pringle and Corey Pringle; two nieces, Cindy Pringle and Jackie Corrillo; and eight great-nieces and a nephew. |
