Bell plans spring retirement in New Braunfels

Neice Bell’s more than 45 years in newspapers — which began in a Kerrville closet as a typesetter in 1979 — will wrap at the end of May as she finishes her second tenure as publisher of the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung.

By KAITLYNN HUTCHINS, The New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung

More than a dozen years of that long career have been spent in New Braunfels, where Bell consistently put together teams that broke new ground and won statewide accolades, including multiple newspaper and newsroom of the year awards and “Bright Ideas,” which recognize unique advertising campaigns.

“The thing I enjoyed most was watching the people working with me succeed and become more — to watch them develop, becoming managers and doing more with their careers and lives,” Bell said. “It gave me great satisfaction to know that I was part of that.”

One of those was Chris Lykins, whom Bell recruited to lead the Herald-Zeitung newsroom on two different occasions before he was promoted to another position with the Herald-Zeitung’s parent company, Southern Newspapers Inc., which owns and operates 10 papers across Texas.

“Neice was the best kind of boss you could hope for,” Lykins said. “She would never ask you to do something she wouldn’t do herself. You knew she cared as much as you did about success and doing things the right way. She knew when to speak up, when to listen and when to ask questions.”

Bell’s career looped and returned to previous places she called home on multiple occasions. What started in a 4-by-2-foot typesetting closet at the Kerrville Daily Times, where Bell was hired while still in college, eventually transitioned into her being an advertising representative, then advertising director for years before leaving to manage four Hill Country papers as publisher.

In 2004, Bell joined Southern Newspapers Inc. when she moved to New Braunfels for the first time as marketing director of the Herald-Zeitung. While the Kerrville Daily Times would later become part of the SNI family, it was Bell’s move to New Braunfels that began her 21-year tenure with the company.

The company moved her to the Seguin Gazette as publisher in 2006. She returned to New Braunfels as publisher in 2012, where she served three years before being asked to move to several other newspapers in Texas as publisher, including the Lufkin Daily News, and then back to where she got her start, the Kerrville Daily Times.

But New Braunfels kept calling Bell back, and in 2018, when the opportunity arose, she came back to the Herald-Zeitung, knowing this was where she wanted to end her career.

“I’ve seen a lot of great economic growth and opportunities that have helped this newspaper and New Braunfels as a whole grow,” Bell said. “New Braunfels is a very strong community, and though it may be much larger than when I started, it still has a small-town feel.”

Bell said she has made lifelong friends in every community she’s been in, particularly with those she’s had the opportunity to work alongside.

“I was very blessed to have some of the best bosses in the business,” Bell said. “Southern Newspapers CEO Lissa Walls, Board Chairman Dolph Tillotson and President Leonard Woolsey taught me so much. They have always been so kind and helped me further my career. Not only were they my bosses but they are my friends and always will be.”

She and her husband, Jeff, plan to stay in New Braunfels, and she’s looking forward to doing something new for a change — nothing.

“I can’t wait to get bored,” Bell said. “I don’t know what that feels like. I’m going to miss the pace of the newspaper industry tremendously, but I’m ready for some rest and relaxation. I’ve been doing this for more than 45 years, and it’s time to step aside and let someone else take the reins.”

Woolsey called Bell one of a kind.

“I am not sure she can utter the words ‘can’t do,’ and that is what makes her exceptionable,” Woolsey said. “Her authenticity to the people she works alongside and the communities she serves is nothing short of remarkable. I’ve learned so much from her and will always be thankful for the time we’ve worked together. Like the communities she served, Neice left Southern better than she found it.”

Walls said it’s difficult to imagine the Herald-Zeitung or Southern Newspapers without Bell.

“Neice has been an integral part of SNI for more than 21 years,” Walls said. “Her leadership and mentorship in the newspapers and communities she served were inspirational to her staff and colleagues. I am personally grateful for Neice’s hard work, dedication and loyalty to SNI.”

Bell said she knows the company will work to find the right successor for the New Braunfels post.

“They want to find someone who understands this community — and how its heritage and traditions remain.”

This article was originally published in the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung on Jan. 10.