Lola Austin

Lola Murl Austin, 93, died Sept. 17, 2002 at East Texas Medical Center in Tyler. She was a columnist for the Jacksonville Daily Progress and Mount Pleasant Daily Tribune.

Herbert Baumgartner

Herbert Baumgartner, 69, died Oct. 5, 2002 at Baylor Medical Center. He was a machinist for The Dallas Morning News for 24 years and retired in 1979.

Mary Carington-Smith

Mary “Cecil” Carington-Smith died Sept. 10, 2002 in a Washington hospital. She was a publisher of The Rockwall Chronicle.

Isabel Elsik

Isabel Elsik, 70, died Sept. 26, 2002. She was social editor for the Seguin Gazette-Enterprise and worked in public relations for the Mid-Texas Symphony.

Chester Evans

Chester William Evans, 95, died Sept. 25, 2002.

His newspaper career spanned nearly 50 years. At age 12 he began a 32-year association with The Victoria Advocate where he worked as carrier, sports writer, sports editor and editor.

In 1951 he left to become owner of The Edna Herald, which he ran until 1965. He continued to write “Howdy” columns and other magazine articles.

He also was a longtime member of the South Texas Press Association and served as president in 1958-59 and secretary treasurer from 1965 into the 1980s when he became director emeritus. He received the Distinguished Service Award from STPA in 1985 and is the namesake for the association’s annual distinguished member award.

He played semi-professional baseball for the Victoria Rosebuds in 1926 and was in the U.S. Navy from 1943-45. He was involved in many civic activities and enjoyed camping.

Wade Flatt

Wade H. Flatt, 82, died Oct. 2, 2002 in Wichita Falls.

He began in 1938 as a typesetter for the Wichita Falls Times Record News and worked until retiring as production superintendent in 1980. He spearheaded the move of the Times Publishing Co. from its original location to its present location at 13th and Lamar.

Ramon Garces

Ramon Garces, 76, died Sept. 14, 2002 of prostate cancer.

He was an influential journalist and advocate for migrant farm workers. He was sports editor and city editor of the Laredo Times until 1967 and his series in 1965 on the struggles of Spanish-speaking children in public schools became part of the congressional record in support of the first federal bilingual legislation.

He also worked for The Daily Texan at the University of Texas, Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express.

Ron Gibson

Ron Gibson, 68, died of kidney failure and complications from diabetes on Sept. 24, 2002. He was a former journalism professor who advised students at The Daily Texan from 1985 until declining health forced him to retire in 1997.

Louise Von Heeder

Louise Von Heeder, 85, died Sept. 12, 2002 at Columbus Community Hospital. As a young woman she was an editor and typesetter at the Eagle Lake Headlight.

Howard Humphrey

Howard Campbell Humphrey, 71, died Aug. 8, 2002 of cancer at Charlton Methodist Hospital. He was production manager for The Dallas Morning News from 1978-88.

Anne Jackson

Anne Jackson, 79, died Oct. 7, 2002 in an assisted living facility after a short illness. The former fashion model-turned-administrative assistant was known as the “heart and soul” of the Texas Associated Press for three decades.

Jackson’s AP career began at age 35. She worked alongside five Texas bureau chiefs. In 1989, she was named an AP staffer of the year, a designation formerly reserved for reporters and photographers.

Her son, Tom Jackson, is the AP’s Washington-based Texas regional writer.

Frank L. Trejo

Frank L. Trejo, 95, died Sept. 29, 2002 of pneumonia. He was known as the dean of Hispanic journalists in Texas. He joined the San Antonio Light in 1947and retired in 1986. He wrote the “Frank Talk” and “Around the Plaza” columns. His first job as sports reporter was in 1933 with the San Antonio Evening News.

Eleanor Werst

Eleanor Maurine (Bradford) Werst, 87, died Aug. 31, 2002.

She married James Lee “Mike” Werst, Jr., in 1932 and they lived in several towns as a young married couple while he worked for various newspapers. They moved to Big Lake in the spring of 1948.

She wrote a society column for The Big Lake Wildcat. She was a moving force in many local civic activities including the Presbyterian church, Stiles Dance Club, Big Lake Golf Association and Reagan Garden Club. She was a life master at duplicate bridge.

Her son David Werst and his wife Ramona publish the Wildcat.