- 30 -

Obituaries published in the June 2020 edition of the Texas Press Messenger.

Philip Austin Berkebile Sr.
LINCOLN, Neb. – Philip Austin Berkebile Sr., who served as executive vice president of the Texas Daily Newspaper Association for 22 years, died May 1 in Lincoln, Nebraska. He was 83.
Berkebile retired from the Texas Daily Newspaper Association in 2004 after serving 22 years in Austin. He was executive director of the Nebraska Press Association in Lincoln from 1973 to 1985. Prior to these positions, he worked as the general manager of the Hastings, Nebraska and Dodge City, Kansas Chambers of Commerce and as executive assistant to Kansas U.S. Congressman Robert E. Ellsworth. He also held positions with the Kansas City, Kansas Chamber of Commerce; Great Plains Wheat Corporation; and the Abilene, Kansas Reflector-Chronicle.
Professional recognitions during his 38-year journalistic career include resolutions adopted by both the Texas House of Representatives and Texas State Senate recognizing his efforts in regard to First Amendment and Freedom of Information issues. He served as president of the Newspaper Association Managers of America, president of American Newspaper Representatives, director of the National Newspaper Association, director of the American Newspaper Publishers Association, director of the Texas Tech University School of Journalism, president of the Society of Professional Journalists, Sigma Delta Chi, and president of the Organization of Newspaper Advertising Directors.
Berkebile is survived by his wife of 63 years, Judy (Blasi) Berkebile of Lincoln, seven children, 16 grandchildren, four great grandchildren and other relatives.
A celebration of life coordinated by Roper & Sons of Lincoln, Nebraska will be held at a later date. Burial will be in Wellington, Kansas. Memorials may be directed to the Wellington, Kansas Humane Society 203 W. Hillside Rd, P.O. Box 494, Wellington, KS  67152.

Rubye Neile Mitchell Buckel
LEMESA – Rubye Neile Mitchell Buckel, 93, widow and mother of past TPA presidents, died April 28 at Legacy Oaks Assisted Living Community in Azle.
A native of Montgomery, Alabama, she married Walter Buckel in 1947. They lived in Dallas, Lubbock and San Diego before moving to Lamesa in 1949, where Walter played baseball for the Lobos of the West Texas-New Mexico League.
Over the next 55 years they made their home in Lamesa, raising two children and participating in the community as her husband worked in insurance, as Dawson County clerk and in radio before becoming publisher of the Lamesa Press-Reporter in 1968. 
Walter Buckel served as TPA president in 1985-86, and their son Bob Buckel was president in 2002-03.
In addition to her work as a wife, mother and homemaker, she worked at a local department store, in an elementary school cafeteria and alongside her husband at the Dawson County Free Press and the Press-Reporter.
The Buckels were active members of the Lamesa Church of Christ, where Walter was an elder and Rubye taught Sunday School for many years.
They moved to Lubbock in 2010. Her husband died Nov. 27, 2013. 
She is survived by a daughter, Barbara Buckel, of Lubbock; son, Bob Buckel of Azle, five grandchildren and two great grandchildren. 
Due to COVID-19 shelter-in-place guidelines, a private graveside service was held April 30 at Dawson County Cemetery, with Mark Hackett of the Lamesa Church of Christ officiating. Burial followed in Dawson County Cemetery under the direction of Branon Funeral Home.
Memorials may be made to the Children’s Home of Lubbock, P.O. Box 2824, Lubbock, TX 79408.

Ida Adair Lassiter Luker
VIDOR – Ida Adair Lassiter Luker, owner of Orange County Publishing Co. Inc, and publisher of The Vidor Vidorian, died April 25 in Vidor. 
A native of Elkhart, she attended Sam Houston State University.
She married Merle Luker of Grapeland in 1940 and joined his family newspaper, The Grapeland Messenger, focusing on advertising sales. During World War II, with her husband serving in the Pacific aboard the USS Rigel, and brother-in-law Ed Luker serving in the US Army, her duties increased to include setting type, office work and page layout as she and her father-in-law A. H. “Kid” Luker continued to publish the weekly newspaper until the brothers came home.
When they learned The Vidor Vidorian, a local newspaper in the growing Golden Triangle area, was for sale, the Lukers bundled up their young family and moved to Vidor to assume ownership in March 1959. With hard work, Vidor’s paper increased readership to reach more than 6,000 subscribers. 
The threat of an out-of-the-area concern starting a free newspaper in the county led to the establishment of Four Star Press and the free-distribution newspaper for the Vidor area, The Vidorian Shopper. Luker provided the startup funding for the Four Star Press and the idea and advertising for The Vidorian Shopper. As the newspapers’ main – usually only – salesperson for decades, she made many friends throughout the area business community and readers kept up with her weekly “At Random” column, in which she recounted daily life experiences in the community.
Working daily at the newspaper until the past few years, Luker saw many changes in the industry, from hot type to digital production. She served as president of the Texas Gulf Coast Press Association in 1970-1971, was recognized as Vidor Outstanding Citizen in 1982 and was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Vidor Chamber of Commerce in 2012. 
Her husband preceded her in death in 2009.
She is survived by two sons, Dan and Randall, and their families, including six grandchildren and six great grandchildren.
Services were held graveside at Grapeland City Cemetery on April 30.