Bill Hartman

RICHMOND – Bill Hartman of Richmond, the longtime owner of the Hartman Newspapers group, died May 3 in Fort Bend County. He was 79.
Hartman, who published a weekly column in the company’s flagship newspaper, the Fort Bend Herald, had been dealing with illness since suffering a broken leg last year. He had written several columns about the aftermath and challenges of going through the rehabilitation process.
Hartman purchased a group of community newspapers in 1974 from Carmage Walls and Southern Newspapers, Inc., and his company grew at one point to 17 newspapers in Texas and Oklahoma.
Today, Hartman Newspapers owns and operates nine Texas newspapers and websites in additional to several commercial printing operations. Hartman relocated the company to Rosenberg in 1977, and he and his family moved to the adjoining city of Richmond.
Hartman demanded his editors and publishers get as many names and faces as possible in each issue to best tell the story of the communities they served.
He eschewed euphemisms and demanded “only the facts” be published in the news pages. Opinions were only for the editorial page. Hartman was critical of public officials who acted against the public interest, and believed newspapers play a valuable role as government watchdogs.
He also understood a newspaper is central to the lifeblood of a community, and required his publishers to participate in civic activities and volunteer organizations.
A native of Baytown, he was the son of Betty and Fred Hartman. He attended Baytown public schools, graduating from Robert E. Lee High School in 1959.
Hartman began his lifelong career in the newspaper business as a teenager. His first job was doing janitorial work for his father Fred, who was editor and publisher of the Baytown Sun for Southern Newspapers, Inc. He then moved on to covering sports, and was an athletic trainer for the Robert E. Lee Ganders.
After graduating from Baylor University in 1962 with a business administration degree, Hartman went to work as editor and publisher of the Bayshore Sun in La Porte. He moved back to Baytown in 1965 as general manager of the Baytown Sun under his father and Walls, who were his most influential mentors.
From 1971-74, Hartman served as editor and publisher of the Beaumont Enterprise & Journal before founding Hartman Newspapers.
Hartman was a tireless promoter of Fort Bend County. His community activities included serving as president of the Rosenberg-Richmond Area Chamber of Commerce; chairman of the Greater Fort Bend Economic Development Council; director of Polly Ryon Memorial Hospital; chairman of the Fort Bend County Mobility Task Force; vice chairman of the Richmond State School’s Volunteer Services Council; president of the Rosenberg Rotary Club; and director of the Fort Bend County Fair Association.
Statewide, he served as a director of the Texas Ranger Association Foundation and as a member of the Texas Constitutional Revision Commission in 1973.
One of his many good friends in life, the late Wayne Moore, once remarked, “Bill Hartman was, is and in my opinion, shall always be a builder.”
Hartman was also a leader in the newspaper industry, serving as president of the Texas Daily Newspaper Association in 1977. TDNA also honored him with the Pat Taggart Newspaper Leader of the Year award in 2004.
He was an avid sports fan, golfer, horseman, outdoorsman and firearms enthusiast. A member of the Houston Chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America, he covered the Houston Astros for many years, as well as The Masters golf tournament.
Hartman was a member of St. John’s United Methodist Church in Richmond.
He is survived by three children, Fred Hartman and wife Laura Lee Prather; Lee Hartman and wife Shannon Hartman; and Lizz Sansone and husband Chris Sansone; six grandchildren and other relatives.