Paul Adams Rix, a former state government reporter for the Wisconsin State Journal, died Wednesday, Dec. 15, in Mequon. He was 74.
Rix was born July 8, 1947, in Milwaukee to Paul A. and Mary W. Rix. He grew up in Nashotah and graduated in 1965 from University Lake School in Hartland.
After serving in the U.S. Marine Corps during the Vietnam War, Rix graduated from Springfield College in Massachusetts, where he was a member of the school’s swim team. He was a lifelong athlete and maintained swimming and long-distance running as his “lifetime sports.”
Rix spent his career as a newspaper and magazine reporter. Prior to his time with the State Journal, he spent one year with the Clintonville Tribune and five years at the Kankakee (Ill.) Daily Journal.
Rix joined the State Journal in 1978 as a member of the newspaper’s Capitol reporting team. Among the beats he covered were the Wisconsin State Senate, Department of Transportation, Public Service Commission and Department of Natural Resources.
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In 1971, Rix married Lynn Manegold, a fellow University Lake School graduate. Together they had two children — Adam and Natalie — and four grandchildren.
A private celebration of Rix’s life is planned for January.
