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Established 1948   The Denison Herald August 7, 1988 pg. 2 Byron B. "Buzz" Buzbee, 83, retired managing editor of The Denison Herald, died Thursday night in a local hospital where he had been in a coma after suffering a stroke. Funeral was Tuesday afternoon at Johnson-Moore Funeral Chapel with Rev. David Dunson officiating. Burial was in Cedarlawn Memorial Park. Buzbee retired in November 1969, then became active in the Senior Advocation Vocational Education (SAVE) program at Grayson County college and wrote a page one column, "Buzz on SAVE" for the college newspaper for several years. He was born October 13, 1904 in Paul's Valley, Oklahoma, a son of William J. Buzbee, and received his early schooling there, graduating from high school in Oklahoma City, where he moved with his family as a boy. He first attended Oklahoma State University, then finished at Oklahoma University in 1933. His earliest work was a waiter in the dormitory at the university. His family had moved to the Rio Grande Valley and Buzbee joined them there to start his newspaper career as a reporter on the Valley Morning Star in Harlingen. Two years later he joined the editorial staff at the Corpus Christi Caller and spent 9 years there serving as farm and ranch editor and on other assignments. He scored a picture scoop for the Caller when he came up with the only photo of a tarpon that President Franklin Roosevelt landed during a fishing expedition out of Port Aransas. Buzbee's first venture into the newspaper business on his own was as owner of the Grand Saline Sun, a weekly, which he published 5 years, starting in 1945. Then he operated the tri-weekly Grand Prairie Texan for another 5 years before selling that paper. He and Joy Hall were married at Sinton, Texas November 29, 1936. He has been an active member of Waples United Methodist Church and the Criterian Sunday school class for many years along with American Association of Retired Persons and formerly was a member of the Rock Hounds. Survivors include his wife of Denison; daughter, Joy Buzbee Lawrence of Santa Barbara, California; brother, Frank, of Oklahoma City; and sister, Lura Dale Bobb of Oklahoma City. Pallbearers were John Hubbert, Harold Harmon, Al Oubre, John Clift, Jerry Crenshaw and Larry Ascher.  NEWSMAN WRITES FINAL '30' TO LONG CAREER In November 1969 Byron B. Buzbee "Buzz" to all who knew him, retired as wire editor of The Denison Herald. The headline on his retirement story said "Buzbee ends long newspaper career in Herald retirement." But Buzz was one of those newspaper people who could never retire. He had been writing and editing since before he left Oklahoma University in 1933. He was one of the best spellers ever to hit Denison. Employees of the Herald used to try to trip him up by asking him to spell words they "knew" he couldn't spell. Boy, did he surprise them when he spit out the correctly spelled word, usually without a second thought. But Buzz kept his dictionary close at hand and like any good newspaper person, he looked the word up if he had even the slightest doubt in his mind about the spelling. We called him "the human dictionary," because he he could spell a word without looking up from his work editing the Associated Press wire and laying out page one. Buzz was one of those retirees who got caught in the mandatory 65 year retirement that soon was tossed out. He never should have retired because he had many good years of newspapering still in his mind and heart. So he went to Grayson County College as a senior citizen in the SAVE program and soon started banging out a front page column for the Grayson Graphic, student newspaper at GCC in the 1970s. Working closely with Jessica Russell, newspaper adviser, Buzz made his mark at the college just like he had at the Herald, the Corpus Christi Times, and other newspapers, where he had worked or had owned. His column was a hit with the seniors at Grayson, who read it regularly to keep up with what was offered for them there. All this time Buzz was still writing stories for The Herald about activities of his Sunday school class at Waples Methodist Church, American Association of Retired People, and anything else with which he was connected. He also came up with some good tips through the years that Herald reporters followed up on to produce excellent features. The old saying that a newspaper person can never get the printer's ink out of his veins was certainly true of Buzz. He kept in close contact with The Herald and until recent months loved to pay regular visits to the office to catch up on what was happening - even after his eyesight failed to the extent that he couldn't read the paper. His wife, Joy, took over the job of reading from The Herald to him. Buzz never missed a Herald Christmas or retirement party as long as he was able to get there and even the newest employees got to know and love him. Buzz was a person who said what he thought and if you didn't like it, that was tough. He knew the newspaper business like the back of his hand and could teach the newcomer more in an hour than most could in a day. Buzz loved life and strived to enjoy every minute of it. He fought his way back from several serious illnesses during the last few years with each taking its toll on his strength and his stamina. But nothing slowed his will to live. When Denison held Main Street Day on July 2, Buzz was right there on the sideline as long as possible. But late in July Buzz's health overtook his will and he went into a coma, never to regain consciousness. Friday morning Buzz lost his fight for life. His familiar face and wise cracks will be missed around the Denison Herald. He will be missed by all who knew him through other avenues. He will be missed by his daughter, Tippi, and wife, Joy, who will have stars in her crown for all the caring she has given Buzz through the years. Buzz never "retired", but now HAS written that final "30" (the end of the story) to a long newspaper career.   Cedarlawn Cemetery Susan Hawkins © 2024 If you find any of Grayson County TXGenWeb links inoperable, please send me a message. |