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Obituaries published in the March 2021 editor of the Texas Press Messenger

Otha L. Grisham
SEGUIN – Otha L. Grisham, 97, former co-owner of the Seguin Enterprise, whose career included service at several newspapers in Texas, died Jan. 28.
A native of Moran, Grisham graduated from Southwest Texas State Teachers College in San Marcos in 1943. Beginning in 1944, he served as a Marine Corps officer during the invasion and capture of Peleliu Island, as well as the invasion of Okinawa, the last great battle of the Pacific War. Following active service, he served in the Marine Corps Reserve for 25 years, retiring as a colonel in 1976.
After the war, he returned to San Marcos to teach high school for a year before starting his newspaper career as a reporter for the San Antonio Light. Later, he served as news editor of the San Marcos Record.
The Grisham family moved to Seguin in 1951 when he joined the late Garfield Kiel in ownership and management of the Seguin Enterprise. This began a long career and heavy involvement in the Seguin community. He was also active with South Texas Press Association, serving as president in 1960-61.
After selling the Enterprise in 1977, he worked in sales and served two years as emergency management coordinator for the City of Seguin and Guadalupe County before retiring.
He was preceded in death by his wife of 71 years, Doris Muelker Grisham, his college sweetheart. 
He is survived by four children, seven grandchildren, two great grandchildren and other relatives.
No funeral services were held due to COVID-19 pandemic concerns.
Memorials may be made to Guadalupe Regional Hospice, 1331 E. Court St., Seguin, TX 78155; First United Methodist Church, 704 N. Austin St., Seguin, TX 78155; or the National Museum of the Pacific War, 311 E. Austin St., Fredericksburg, TX 78623.

Betty Dawes Humphrey
ROSENBERG – Former Herald-Coaster lifestyle editor Betty Dawes Humphrey, who regaled readers for more than five decades with her weekly column “Bits from Betty,” died Jan. 29. She was 88.
She started at the Herald-Coaster on Oct. 1, 1952 and retired March 31, 2007. Thousands of residents read their names in the newspaper every year, thanks to Humphrey's column and a lifestyles section that included weddings, engagements, anniversaries, births, civic club news, cooking recipes, college and university announcements and more. Her column was particularly popular.
In 2006, she was honored by the Texas Press Association with the Golden 50 award. According to her bio published on the Texas Press Association website, she began working at what was then the weekly Rosenberg Herald on Oct. 8, 1952, as Betty Dawes. The night she graduated in the Top 10 percent of her class at Rosenberg High School, she was offered a job by publisher Donald B. Bryant, who had seen — and was impressed with — some of the articles she penned for the Rosenberg Chamber of Commerce and submitted to The Herald and the Houston Chronicle.
In 1958, not long after her marriage to Guy Humphrey, the Rosenberg Herald and The Texas Coaster, Richmond’s newspaper, merged and she was part of the new staff of the semi-weekly Herald-Coaster. She was there when the newspaper became a daily in 1967 — about the time women were "allowed to wear trousers to work," according to the TPA article.
The Herald-Coaster became the Fort Bend Herald in August 2005, prior to Humphrey's retirement in March 2007.
In a tribute published in the Fort Bend Herald, Humphrey was remembered by current and former editors and publishers for her dedication to community news. Herald-Coaster Publisher Clyde King noted she was the perfect reporter. "She knew everybody in town and knew where every body was buried, and she would gladly share that information with our readers,” he said.
He said she truly cared about the people she worked with, and the people she wrote about.
She was also active in the community and served as served as a judge for the annual Fort Bend County Fair parade among other volunteer posts. She continued her volunteer work in retirement.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Guy, and one son. She is survived by four children, 14 grandchildren, seven grandchildren and other relatives.
Funeral arrangements were not announced.

Joe Kirgan Jr.
FAIRFIELD – Fourth generation newspaperman Joe Lee Kirgan, Jr., died Jan. 29. He was 90.
Kirgan was a native of Sweetwater, where his father worked for the Sweetwater Reporter. His family moved to Fairfield in 1945 when his grandfather needed help running the Fairfield Recorder.
From an early age he worked at the newspaper with his father Joe Lee Kirgan, Sr., and his grandfather L.C. Kirgan. His great grandfather, J.A. Kirgan, founded newspapers in Trinity, Groveton, Crockett, Corrigan, Malakoff, Hubbard and Dawson. 
After graduating from Baylor University, Kirgan Jr. also worked at the Sweetwater Reporter, as well as the Baylor Press, Dallas Times Herald, and Polk County Enterprise where he was recognized as the youngest editor in Texas by the Texas Press Association in 1956.
As a journalist in Livingston, he was instrumental in the adoption of the Polk County stock law that was hotly contested by ranchers who grazed the open range. The law's provisions became more popular when enacted. During the same period his powerful editorials and correspondence helped end a stalemate between the City of Houston and the Trinity River Authority, resulting in the agreement to construct Lake Livingston.
He moved home to Fairfield in 1960 to take over the Fairfield Recorder when his father became ill and died. He became editor, publisher, and owner/co-owner of the Recorder over the years from 1960 to 1985, when he sold the family newspaper. He strove to provide unbiased news coverage, and his column “This N That” was popular with the community.
Active in his hometown, he served on the FISD School Board and as president of the Fairfield Chamber of Commerce, which honored him with the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017. He also served as president of the Fairfield Rotary Club and was a charter member and president of Freestone Country Club. He helped organize the Fairfield Little Dribblers Association and served as a coach. He also officiated high school football and high school and college basketball.
Beyond his local service, he served as Rotary District 587 governor, on the district board of the Boy Scouts of America, as vice president of the advisory board of the Texas Press Association and on the Advisory Board of Texas State Technical Institute.
He remained active in retirement, serving 15 years on the Fairfield City Council, seven years as mayor pro-tem, and teaching Sunday school at the First Baptist Church. A 32nd Degree Mason, he was a member of the local Masonic Lodge for 65 years.
He was preceded in death by his wife of 56 years, Bette Ann Nettle Kirgan, his high school sweetheart and fellow Baylor graduate. He is survived by three children, five grandchildren, five great grandchildren, one great-great grandchild and other relatives.
Services were held graveside at Fairfield Cemetery on Feb. 6.
Memorials may be made to Operation Finally Home, a volunteer organization that provides new homes and home modifications for wounded, ill or injured veterans and first responders.

Theodore Rickenbacher Jr.
DALLAS – Former publisher and later newspaper broker Theodore “Ted” Rickenbacher Jr., 84, died Jan. 2.
A native of Fredonia, Kansas, his family moved to Hearne when his father bought the Hearne Democrat, becoming the third generation of newspaper publishers in the family.
He attended TCU as a journalism major and was part of the original pledge class of Sigma Alpha Epsilon at TCU in 1955.
After five years with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, he moved to Kansas as the publisher of the Fredonia Daily Herald. He became the fourth generation of newspaper publishers in his family. After four years, the paper was sold and Rickenbacher took his portion of the profits to start a newspaper in the DFW area, The Grapevine Herald. Later, he sold it to the Star-Telegram.
He purchased the Farmers Branch Times and Carrollton Chronicle in 1969. He also started North Texas Publications, a printing company for area publications. In 1980, he sold the Farmers Branch Times, Carrollton Chronicle, Lewisville Times-Chronicle, Addison Times-Chronicle and North Dallas Times publications. 
In 1985, He started Rickenbacher Media, a business brokerage firm specializing in print media. He went on to broker the sale of more than 130 newspapers and magazines all over the country. He sold several DFW area publications to both The Dallas Morning News and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, expanding their respective holds in the North Texas market. 
He was proud to be a key player in helping community publishers realize their dreams of retirement after many years of providing quality news to their communities. His great passion was the newspaper industry, both as a publisher and a businessman. 
Rickenbacher was a lifelong member and supporter of the Texas Press Association, attending his first TPA meeting with his father at the age of 12. He was on the board of directors of the Suburban Newspaper Association and the board of trustees of The American Management Association and Greenhill School. 
He also co-founded the Grapevine Rotary Club and became its second president. Years later, he was awarded the Paul Harris Fellow by Grapevine Rotary. 
In later years, Rickenbacher played a lot of golf. He played with the Southern Seniors and the Dickie Doos, a golf and dinner group. 
He married Nancy Swartz in 1962 and they had three children before they divorced in 1983. He married Betty Blake White in 1985 and she preceded him in death in 2020. He was also preceded in death by a son, Jeff.
He is survived by his son David and daughter Ann Thaxton and their families, and other relatives.
Memorials may be charitable gifts to the Texas Newspaper Foundation or Rotary International.
A service will be held at a later date.

Rhonda Faye Roberts
PORT NECHES – Rhonda Faye Roberts, a 43-year employee of the Port Arthur News, died Feb. 9 at The Medical Center of Southeast Texas, Port Arthur.
Roberts, who joined the newspaper's composing department in 1978, was on the front lines of emerging technology throughout the 1980s and 1990s as computers gained prominence in the industry to dominate advertising and page design, Publisher Stephen Hemelt wrote in a eulogy. "As a self-taught composing and graphics team member, she was just as effective in 2021 as she was in 1978," he wrote. He said she was the longest-serving composing employee in the 124-year history of the company.
Hemelt noted that Roberts joined him and former editor I.C. Murrell in working at the Nederland Emergency Operations Center, where they were granted internet access to continue publishing the newspaper when much of the region was without power in the aftermath of Hurricane Laura last year. He also noted that she continued to report for work every day during the pandemic until she became a victim of the COVID-19 virus.
In addition to her work, she was active in the St. Joseph's Catholic Church, playing music for mass.
In addition to her husband, Chris Roberts, she is survived by two children, two grandchildren and other relatives.
Family services were held graveside at Calvary Cemetery in Nederland.

Charles Larry Wingert
BROWNSVILLE –  Veteran newspaperman Charles Larry Wingert, 83, died Jan. 16. 
A native of Iowa, his family moved to McAllen when he was a child and the Rio Grande Valley became his lifelong home. He attended McAllen High School, Pan American College and Sul Ross University.
He began his career with Freedom Communications in 1953 with a paper route and retired in 1995 as a publisher. He learned the business from the ground up and accepted each challenge and advancement opportunity with determination, commitment and grace. He worked at the McAllen Monitor, Valley Morning Star and Brownsville Herald, in addition to newspapers in Pampa and Odessa, Lima, Ohio, and Clovis, New Mexico. 
Wingert was appointed publisher of The Monitor in 1977 and maintained the position for 17 years. Today, his son, Stephen Wingert serves as publisher of The Monitor.
Throughout his tenure as publisher, Wingert gave back to the community though civic work with community and non-profit organizations. He served on a multitude of boards on local and national levels. He was involved with the Elks, Jaycees, Easter Seals, McAllen Chamber of Commerce, Rotary, Boys & Girls Club, and Tip of Texas Girl Scout Council, to name a few. He was also Scoutmaster for Boy Scout Troop 7 in McAllen. 
A devout Catholic, he attended daily mass for years after retirement and continued to give his time and attention by visiting hospice patients and delivering meals to shut-ins and elderly.
In addition to his wife, Margaret Alice Johnson Wingert, and son, he is survived by a daughter and two grandchildren. 
No services were held. The remains were donated to Texas Tech University because, as Wingert conveyed "This is the only way I could get into Tech!" In accordance with his wishes, the family plans a trip to Big Bend National Park in his memory.