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Obituaries published in the April 2024 edition of the Texas Press Messenger.

Beverly Ann Lotta Daughtry

Kenneth Wayne Daughtry

ELGIN - Retired Elgin Courier Publisher Beverly Ann Lotta Daughtry, 81, and her husband Kenneth (Ken) Wayne Daughtry, 83, died March 14.

Bastrop County Sheriff’s Office investigators were looking into the circumstances of their deaths, which came as a shock to the community.

Ken was born Dec. 20, 1940, and Beverly was born May 29, 1942. Both grew up in the Elgin area and graduated from Elgin High School. They were married Sept. 12, 1979.

Both loved Elgin and were well known and admired in the community, and worked throughout their lives to make Elgin a great place to live and raise children.

Beverly worked for the Elgin Courier more than 50 years and retired as editor and publisher. She received the Golden 50 Award from Texas Press Association in 2007 for 50 years of service to journalism.

She was given Most Worthy Citizen of the Year Award from Elgin Chamber of Commerce in 2001. Additionally, Beverly served several years as a board member for Frontier Bank.

Ken had several successful careers in Elgin, including banker and realtor. In 1973, at his first job in banking as a teller at Elgin National Bank, he became a local hero for chasing a bank robber who had taken a cash box from another teller. After retiring, he enjoyed photography and worked as a photojournalist for the Elgin Courier. His photography won the Courier first place for feature photo in 2009 from Texas Gulf Coast Press Association and in 2010 from South Texas Press Association.

Ken is also remembered for many roles he served in Elgin, including as member and president of Elgin School Board from 1974 to 1986 and mayor of Elgin from 1986 to 1991. He received the Outstanding Citizen Award from Elgin Chamber of Commerce in 1984.

Ken and Beverly were well known for their love of restoring older homes in the Elgin area along with elegant landscaping for those homes. They expanded their remodeling endeavors to condos in Port Aransas, and spent much time enjoying the coast.

Beverly was preceded in death by her parents, Lee and Adelee Almquist and her first husband, Jack Williams. Ken was preceded in death by his parents, Rufus and Leona Daughtry; and his son, Damon Daughtry.

Beverly is survived by two daughters and other relatives. Ken is survived by a daughter as well as the relatives. Both are survived by six grandchildren and four great grandchildren.

Services were held March 23 at Providence Funeral Home in Elgin.

Memorials may be made to the Elgin Public Library, the American Heart Association, the Alzheimer’s Association or Texas Sealife Center in Corpus Christi.

James Leslie (Jim) Davison

WHITESBORO — James Leslie “Jim” Davison, 72, of Whitesboro died on Feb. 14.

Davison and his wife Xina owned and operated the Whitesboro News Record for 35 years after buying it in their early 20’s.

The City of Whitesboro was set to celebrate its centennial in late spring of 1973. The News-Record published a special edition to celebrate the event just a month after suffering an unexpected loss. The publisher, a young man named Ron Smith, died on May 26, 1973, from an undetected congenital heart condition. His widow sold the paper to Jim and Xina, both of whom worked at the newspaper. Jim was a photographer, reporter and pressman. Xina was the ad manager.

Both had studied journalism at Grayson County College. Jim had then taken advanced classes at East Texas State in Commerce and North Texas State in Denton. Xina was a junior at Texas Women’s University.

Early on, Jim was active in the business community. He joined several civic organizations and served as president of the Whitesboro Area Chamber of Commerce.

When the couple discovered they were expecting their firstborn, Jim needed a second job to make ends meet. 

He went to work as a rural mail carrier and stayed with the postal service until retiring 29 years later. He would edit, cover sports and compose the paper in the evenings after delivering mail during the day. Xina ran the office and made sure the advertising budget was met. 

Jim and Xina ran the News-Record three and a half decades, ushering it from the days of moveable type to paste-up, offset printing and eventually into the modern era of digital design and online publishing.

They moved the News-Record to its current location in 1986.

In February 2008, the Davisons sold the News-Record to Scott Wood.

Wood sold the News-Record to its current owners, Austin and Jennifer Lewter, in June 2023.

Davison was preceded in death by Xina, his wife of 45 years. He is survived by two sons, a grandson and other relatives.

Funeral services were held Feb. 19 at Meador Funeral Home of Whitesboro.

Fred M. Faour

HOUSTON – Fred M. Faour, a second-generation sports journalist who was sports editor of the Houston Chronicle from 2005 through 2007 and a longtime sports talk host on Gow Media’s KFNC (97.5 FM), died Feb. 14 at his Houston home. He was 59.

Faour was the son of Pat Monych, who served as sports editor of the Texas City Sun in the 1970s and 1980s, and Fred B. Faour, who worked at the Chronicle as a copy desk editor and supervisor for 29 years.

He began working at the Chronicle as a teenager and was hired full-time after graduating in 1987 from the University of Houston. 

He left the newspaper for brief periods in the late 1980s and early 1990s and turned his focus to his longtime love of racing with the 1992 opening of Gulf Greyhound Park and the 1994 opening of Sam Houston Race Park.

After becoming sports editor in 2005, Faour left the newspaper in 2007 and began a new chapter as a sports radio personality. He started at KNFC with Matt Dean from 2008 to 2010 before teaming with A.J. Dean to host the popular afternoon drive sports talk show “The Blitz.” He stayed with the station until departing in 2021 to become an editor of the GallerySports.com website.

His passion for gambling (he qualified for the 2006 World Series of Poker finals) and betting led him to work as a handicapper for the Chronicle’s racing coverage while also embracing his love for horse racing. 

Faour also published The Racing Star in the 1990s when he served as a consultant for both Sam Houston Race Park and La Marque’s Gulf Greyhound Park.

Former Chronicle writer John McClain, who worked with both Faour and Faour’s father, said, “Fred was a terrific copy editor, just like his father. 

But he was also a splendid writer. And he was a great person, who’d do anything for his family and friends and asked for nothing in return.

He is survived by a son and daughter, two brothers and other relatives.

Memorial services were pending.