C. Albert Altwegg Jr.

C. Albert “Al” Altwegg Jr., 85, died July 5 of complications of a stroke and pneumonia at an Arlington nursing home facility.

He was among the first editors to cover business news for The Dallas Morning News, having come from a business background. He also was among the first business editors to hire women to cover business. He owned the Arlington Journal with Dick Weicker but left in 1956 when it merged with another newspaper.

Lori Benrubi

Lori Benrubi, 81, died July 9 at Medical City Dallas Hospital.

She was art director for The Dallas Morning News for seven years until retiring in the 1980s. She also was a graphic artist for Taylor Publishing and Miller Publishing.

Grace Davis Berry

Grace Miriam Fulcher Davis Berry, 103, died July 23.

In the first few minutes of New Year’s Day, 2000, Berry exclaimed, “I made it!” referring to the fact that she had lived in three centuries.

Berry grew up in Thorndale where she began her 39-year devotion to the Thorndale Champion. She continued to work as a reporter until retiring on her 102nd birthday.

She joined the staff in 1936 and her job entailed “doing everything.” In 1941 she remarried and moved to Fort Worth but she returned to the newspaper in 1969 and eventually took over as editor, running the newspaper alone for 10 years until the early 1980s.

Berry’s centenarian employment impressed all who knew her or heard about this accomplishment. She was honored with a segment on The Texas Country Reporter television show, numerous TV interviews, several phone calls from the David Letterman Show and news releases from the Associated Press to many statewide publications.

Caro Brown

Caro Crawford Brown, 93, died Aug. 5 in a Boerne nursing home after a decade of failing health.

She won the 1955 Pulitzer Prize for distinguished local reporting on a deadline for the Alice Daily Echo for her series on George Parr, the Democratic boss in Duval County who was in charge of the election recount that uncovered 202 votes to narrowly elect Lyndon B. Johnson to the U.S. Senate in 1948.

Her journalism career, for which she had little training and had only taken one college course, only lasted five years. She grew up in East Texas and took a job as a proofreader after moving to Alice with her husband. She inherited the coverage of Parr.

In 1956 she received a certificate of commendation for service in an investigation of Duval County by then Attorney General John Ben Shepperd. She was inducted into the Texas Women’s Hall of Fame in 1986.

The Pulitzer committee noted that Brown had “written under unusual pressure both of edition time and difficult, even dangerous circumstances.”

Kathryn Evans

Kathryn McDonald Evans, 91, died July 15.

She and husband Chester Evans were only the second owners of the Edna Herald, now the Jackson County Herald-Tribune, and published it from 1951-65. She belonged to South Texas Press Association for 50 years and was an honorary lifetime member.

Chester is a past STPA president, longtime secretary-treasurer and holds the title special financial assistant to the president. The STPA named its annual distinguished member award after him.

Marcelino Gonzalez

Marcelino Gonzalez, 77, died July 17 after a long illness.

He began in 1974 as a translator for El Heraldo de Brownsville, the Spanish edition of the Brownsville Herald created in 1934, and became only the second editor in 1990 following founder Oscar del Castillo.

William Hall

William David Hall, 93, died July 5 after suffering from pneumonia. He was one of the oldest living former editors of The Daily Texan.

He landed his first job at the Fort Worth Press and after only a year as reporter he was promoted to city editor, which he held until the mid-1950s. Soon after a promotion to managing editor he left to work for the Pittsburg Press until retiring in 1970.

Tommy G. Hicks

Tommy G. Hicks, 62, died July 14 at Lincoln General Hospital in Ruston, La.

He joined his father at the family-owned Jefferson Jimplecute from 1960-63. From 1965-77 he owned and published The Dublin Citizen.

Doris Johnson

Doris Elaine Bartz Johnson, 70, died Aug. 4 in Austin.

Johnson worked 35 years for Texas Press Association in Austin. She started at TPA on Nov. 10, 1960 when Vern Sanford was the association manager and she held various duties and responsibilities over the years. She attended TPA conventions, oversaw circulation of the Texas Press Messenger, handled the press release service and performed other office duties as the need arose. She retired from TPA in 1995.

Ruth E. La Touf

Ruth E. La Touf, 75, died unexpectedly July 19.

She was a typesetter and proofreader for more than 30 years in the composing room at the Austin American-Statesman.

Elton Lewis Miller

Elton Lewis Miller, 89, died July 6 in Dallas.

He and wife Kay founded the White Rocker in Dallas on Feb. 8, 1945 while he was working for The Dallas Morning News. The couple owned it for 15 years.

Miller also worked at the Dallas Times Herald, Palestine Press, Henderson Daily News and Port Arthur News. At age 23 he owned and published the Rusk Cherokeean. He also worked at the Dallas office of The Associated Press.

He began his newspaper career in 1929 as sports editor for the Athens Review while still in high school.

V. Marlow Preston

V. Marlow Preston, 79, died July 21 after a brief battle with cancer.

He bought the Wharton Journal in 1958 and then bought the Wharton Spectator nine years later. He published the Journal on Wednesdays and the Spectator on Sundays. The papers merged into one semiweekly Wharton Journal-Spectator in 1974. He sold the newspaper in 1974 to River Publishers Inc., the current owner, and continued to own newspapers and shoppers in the Houston area.

Robert Rothé

Robert Rothé, 59, died July 23 of a heart attack at his Roanoke, Va., home.

He began his newspaper career in Texas three decades ago as a reporter at the San Angelo Standard Times. He worked at the Waco News Tribune while finishing his degree from Baylor University and later The Baytown Sun. He also worked for The Cincinnati Enquirer, San Francisco Chronicle, New York Newsday and The Philadelphia Inquirer.

John Allen Templeton

John Allen Templeton, 87, died July 15 in Jacksonville.

He was editor of the Jacksonville Journal in 1935 and three years later bought it. He served as publisher and editor until Feb. 15, 1959 when he sold it.

Hettie F. Williams

Hettie F. Williams, 101, died July 20 in San Jose, Calif. She was circulation manager for The Bryan/College Station Eagle.

Raymond Zauber

Raymond Garber “Ray” Zauber, 84, died July 25 at DeSoto Nursing Home. He was known as the “fighting editor” of the Oak Cliff Tribune in Dallas, which he owned and published for 40 years.

He was a police reporter for the Dallas Times Herald and in 1950 went to work for the Tribune. He sold the newspaper in 1990 and was a staunch supporter of Oak Cliff when plans were first announced to construct Interstate 35 through Dallas.