Obituaries

Richard L. Barton, Sr.

Richard L. Barton Sr. 78, owner and former editor/publisher of The Fayette County Record, died June 21, 2003 at Fayette Memorial Hospital.

He was a member of the 82nd Airborne, 325th Glider Infantry as a pathfinder and took part in the 1944 Market Garden battle in the Netherlands, which became the subject of a book and movie “A Bridge Too Far.” He was wounded and received the Purple Heart and Bronze Service Arrowhead.

He received a bachelor of arts in journalism from the University of Oklahoma in 1949.

He worked on newspapers in Frederick, Okla., Hugoton, Kan., Enid, Okla., Portageville, Mo. and in Texas at Seagraves and Rosenberg/Richmond where he was advertising manager and became editor and publisher, working there 20 years.

He purchased The Fayette County Record in March 1976, and was managing editor/publisher until he retired in 1988 and appointed Richard L. Barton Jr. to fill the position of editor/publisher.

He served two terms as president of the chamber of commerce in Rosenberg.

Bonnie Cearley

Bonnie Maree Cearley, 92, died June 9, 2003 at Brownwood Regional Hospital following a brief illness.

She was a reporter for The Post Dispatch during World War II and helped publish the newspaper for three years while the publisher served overseas.

She continued her career at the Pecos Daily News in 1962 and later was women’s editor for the Pecos Enterprise. After retiring she continued to contribute to a supplement of the Enterprise.

She was a board member of the Texas Press Association.

James R. Crawford

James R. Crawford, 75, died June 1, 2003 of Parkinson’s disease.

He was an advertising representative for the Dallas Times Herald before joining the Dallas Chamber of Commerce in 1956. He established the corporate communications department for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas.

Anne Davis

Anne Elizabeth Davis, 95, died March 7, 2003. She grew up helping her parents, Fletcher and Rebecca DeMontel Davis, in the family-owned newspaper and edited the Hondo Anvil Herald from 1929-46.

She later became the first woman lawyer in Medina County and practiced law for more than 45 years. She was the first woman president of the Hondo Chamber of Commerce.

Wanda Huddleston

Wanda Huddleston, 61, died June 15, 2003 in a Greenville hospital.

She worked for Van Zandt Newspapers, L.L.C. (formerly Campbell-McNeill Publishing) for 24 years before retiring in March 2002. She worked in composing, helping to prepare the inside pages of the company’s four newspapers — Van Zandt News, Canton Herald, Wills Point Chronicle and Van Banner.

Gloria Knowlton

Gloria Jane “Dodie” Sadler Knowlton, 76, died June 16, 2003. she was a reporter for the Weatherford Democrat in the 1940s.

Harold R. Pope, Sr.

Harold R. Pope, Sr., 72, died June 2, 2003.

He was a founder of the Bowie County Citizens Tribune and retired owner and publisher of the DeKalb News. Harold and Ann Pope purchased the DeKalb News in May 1974 and started the Citizens Tribune with son Roger in 1978. Harold Pope was publisher until 1994. In January 1979 the Tribune became a semiweekly publishing on Thursdays and Sundays. He also was a partner in the Nor-Tex Press and Clarksville Times.

Elizabeth Ray

Elizabeth Vincent Ray, 94, died June 17, 2003. She was a columnist and poet and contributed a weekly column on old age to the Mexia Daily News.

Tex Rogers

Maynard Livingston (M.L.) “Tex” Rogers, 60, of Columbus died June 30, 2003 at Colonial Belle Nursing Home in Bellville.

He went to Texas A&M University in College Station on an athletic scholarship and played football for the Aggies from 1960-62. He later transferred to Texas Tech University.

Tex enjoyed a 40-year career as a newspaperman working as a reporter, editor and publisher. During his career he worked for the Lubbock Avalanche Journal; the Quarter Horse Journal in Amarillo; as a state reporter for The Houston Post; as editor of the Texas Horseman in Houston; as news editor of the Victoria Advocate; as editor of Jackson County Herald-Tribune in Edna; as publisher/editor of the Shiner Gazette; and as publisher/editor and partner of The Colorado County Citizen, 1993-98.

As a member of the South Texas Press Association he served as a director, contest chairman, second vice president, first vice president and president.

He also served as a Texas Press Association director and chaired the TPA Contest Committee from 1994-96. He was a member of the Texas Gulf Coast Press Association and the National Newspaper Association.

Paul Timmons

Paul Timmons, 88, died June 2, 2003.

In 1937 he began his career at the Amarillo Globe-News and was hired as a general assignment reporter in 1938. He became city editor in 1955, a position he held until 1961 when he was named associate editor.

In 1960 he directed the coverage of the Roy Joe Stevens case, which won a Pulitzer Prize for public service for the Amarillo Globe-Times.

Except for three years in the Army during World War II he spent all of his working time on the Globe-News staff. He retired as associate editor April 30, 1980 after more than 40 years. He was a past president of Panhandle Press Association.

Rubie Webb

Rubie Webb, 89, died June 8, 2003.

She wrote a longstanding column in the Wood County Democrat called “Rubie Looks,” which ran for 10 years.