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1963-64 W.E. Berger Hondo Anvil Herald

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W.E. “Bill” Berger, 86th president, was born June 6, 1918 in Ferris, Ill.

He attended Carthage College in Illinois and studied English, and while there was an ad and subscription salesman and proofreader for the Hancock County (Ill.) Journal.

His newspaper career began as a country correspondent. He carried a paper route for the Burlington (Iowa) Hawkeye Gazette.

He was circulation manager for the Topeka (Kan.) State Journal, Iola (Kan.) Register and in Yankton, S.D. and Rolla, Mo. He also worked at newspapers in Spencer, Iowa and Rushville and Tuscola, both in Illinois.

In 1946 he purchased the Hondo Anvil Herald and has published it ever since, with his son Jeff now serving as co-publisher. At one time he also held interests in the Zavala County Sentinel and Seguin Enterprise. In 1951 he bought the LaCoste Ledger and merged it with the Anvil Herald.

He received Texas Press Association’s Golden 50 Award in 1987.

He also is president of Associated Texas Newspapers Inc., a broker firm in Austin.

He served from 1942-46 in the U.S. Army and was stationed in the Pacific, the Philippines and Japan. He was released in 1946.

He married Jerry June Barnes in 1943 and they have three children.

He was president of South Texas Press Association from 1954-55.