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Obituaries published in the January 2023 edition of the Texas Press Messenger.

MICHAEL LINDENBERGER

KANSAS CITY – Michael Lindenberger, who worked in Texas metro markets during nearly 30 years of reporting and editing on floods, politics, poverty and social justice for newsrooms large and small — and helped the Houston Chronicle this year earn its second Pulitzer Prize — has died. He was 51.

At the time of his death, Lindenberger, the former Chronicle deputy opinion editor, was vice president and editorial page editor of the Kansas City Star. He was found early Dec. 12 after a welfare check by police at the behest of a friend. Recently, Lindenberger had been experiencing health issues and had been seeking a diagnosis.

Prior to stints in Kansas City and Houston, Lindenberger was a member of The Dallas Morning News editorial board and before that was the paper’s Washington-based business reporter, among other roles over 14 years.

After spending the first four years of his life in foster homes in Louisville, Kentucky, Lindenberger was adopted in 1975 by John and Kathleen Lindenberger. His adoptive father, a career union worker, instilled in his sons the need for hard work and giving everyone a fair deal. “Michael had a deep connection with people who were overlooked,” said his brother Hudson Lindenberger. “Just a deep streak for social justice.”

He spent 2012-13 at Stanford University as a member of the Knight Journalism Fellowship, but never lost the rhythm and esprit de corps of working in small papers in Portland, Tennessee, Jeffersonville, Indiana, and Owensboro, Kentucky. He was a graduate of the University of Louisville and the school’s Louis D. Brandeis School of Law.

It was in college where he honed his skills and decided to focus them on how journalism could speak for those often outside the corridors of power. While editor of his college paper, Lindenberger and two others drove overnight to cover the Million Man March in Washington.

“The work we do changes lives,” he told the University of Louisville’s alumni magazine in an interview this summer. “We change opinions, and that changes lives because it changes conditions in the state.”

During his three decades at various stops, Lindenberger wrote about families displaced by disaster, political influence and its effects on poverty relief in Kentucky, and the changing landscape of gay culture across the nation. His work reached its zenith, however, when he became an opinion writer.

He won the Star Opinion Writer of the Year prize given by the Texas Associated Press Managing Editors in 2020. He helped lead the Chronicle’s opinion coverage of the “Big Lie,” efforts to suppress voting in Texas. The series won the 2022 Pulitzer Prize in Editorial Writing.

“He deeply believed in the power of good information to triumph over bad, in journalism to illuminate problems and solutions and in finding common ground when it was tempting to only find fault,” said Lisa Falkenberg, the Chronicle’s vice president and editor of opinion.

He is survived by a sister, three brothers and other relatives. He was preceded in death by his partner, the poet Phil Clore.

Services were pending.

JOELLA LOVVORN

Joella Lovvorn, who worked for the Lamb County Leader-News for 53 years, died Nov. 25 in Clovis, New Mexico. She was 88.

She was a resident of Farwell Care and Rehab Center in Farwell, and previously lived in Olton, Texas.

Lovvorn was born in Pep, Texas, on March 20, 1934 to Alford Marion and Emma Daniel Lovvorn. She graduated from Wayland Baptist College in Plainview, where she got her start in journalism in the college’s print shop.

In 1957, she went to work for the Plainview Daily Herald as church news editor and proofreader. She also served as a ticker-tape puncher while correcting metal type on the Linotype machine for the daily issues.

In 1962, the company that owned the Plainview Herald transferred her to the Muleshoe Journal, where she put her knowledge of running a print shop to work and handled photography, proofreading and other duties for two newspapers. In 1964, she moved to Phoenix, Arizona, to work as the assistant editor of the Southern Baptist Convention’s “Baptist Beacon” newspaper, but moved back to the Plainview Herald a year later.

Lovvorn went to work at the Lamb County Leader and County Wide News in July 1967 as society editor. She became news editor and served in other editorial positions for 53 years, working for nine publishers and owners, including most recently, Brett Wesner. She semi-retired in May 2022.

While in Littlefield, she served as a member of the Boards of Directors of the United Way, Salvation Army, American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, Board of City Development, Lamb County Sesquicentennial Committee and the Diamon Jubilee Committee.  She also received the “Woman of the Year” award while living there, was a member of the Rotary Club of Littlefield for several years and served as secretary for a number of years.

Additionally, she was the recipient of several other awards in the community, including two Littlefield High School DECA appreciation plaques, Friend of 4-H in 1979, the Woodmen of the World Outstanding Citizen of the Year in 1984, the Woodmen Woman of Woodcraft in 1987, and received certificates of appreciation from the American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Texas Employment Commission.

She is survived by a brother, nieces and nephews and other relatives. Memorial service was held Dec. 1 at Calvary Tabernacle Church in Clovis.

THOMAS CARLTON HIGLEY

AMARILLO – Thomas Carlton (Tom) Higley, veteran Amarillo newsman and photographer, died Nov. 27. He was 84.

Higley was born Feb. 7, 1938 in Childress, where he grew up. After graduating from Amarillo College with a degree in photography, he studied journalism at the University of Texas at Austin and North Texas State University.

Higley began a 35-year news career in 1960 as editor of The Childress Index. From 1965-1976, he was an integral member of KGNC Radio and TV (now KAMR-TV) as chief photographer, political director, editorial, and assistant news director. He always remembered his most exciting news event to cover was the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

Following 11 years in TV, Higley joined country artist Mel Tillis in building KIXZ-KMML news into a staple for Amarillo listeners.

In 1986, returning to the newspaper business, he purchased the Sayre, Oklahoma, Journal and the Hollis, Oklahoma, News in partnership with his father. After his father’s death in 1995, he co-published The Childress Index.

Higley was inducted into the Panhandle Press Association Hall of Fame in 2002, having served as president of the organization for two terms. In 1996, Higley was inducted into the Texas Panhandle Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame.  He served as president of the Texas Associated Press Broadcasters in 1984. The Texas Medical Association awarded him the 1984 Anson Jones Award for excellence in health reporting.

Active in civic affairs, Higley was a member of the Rotary Club of Amarillo with nearly 50 years’ perfect attendance, and was honored as a Paul Harris Fellow.  He served as president of the Sayre (OK) Rotary in 1994.

Higley served as a director of the Tri-State Fair Board for 30 years and was past president of Catholic Family Services. He served as director on both Texas AAA and Panhandle Plains AAA for two decades.

Since retiring in 1998, Higley returned to his first interest – photography.  His work, capturing Southwest venues and outstanding views found in his travels, was exhibited throughout Texas and New Mexico.

He is survived by his wife of 61 years, Brenda Anne Keel Higley, two daughters, three grandchildren and other relatives.

Memorial services were held Dec. 1 at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Amarillo. Memorials may be made to St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, 1601 South Georgia, Amarillo, TX 79102 or a charity of one’s choice.