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Former Milwaukee journalist and educator Stephen R. Byers died on June 2, at the age of 81.

Byers earned a bachelor's degree from Indiana State University before going on to earn a master's degree in journalism from Northwestern University and a doctorate in Urban Studies from UW-Milwaukee. He worked for the Milwaukee Journal for more than three decades, serving as a columnist, reporter and section editor. In 2004, he became an assistant professor of journalism and student media adviser at Marquette University.

Former Wisconsin newspaper publisher Peter "Pete" W. Selkowe died Sunday, June 2, in Bismarck, North Dakota. He was 81.

A native of Brooklyn, New York, Selkowe worked in several roles over the course of his career, including photographer, reporter, editor and publisher, overseeing both the Bismarck (North Dakota) Tribune and The (Racine) Journal Times. After retiring from the latter, he started a local news blog, the Racine Post. 

Longtime Milwaukee journalist David Behrendt has died at the age of 89, reports Tom Daykin of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

A native of Stevens Point, Behrendt earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in journalism from UW-Madison. He went on to work as a reporter for the Decatur (Illinois) Review and joined the The Milwaukee Journal as a reporter in 1960. He became a copy editor in 1970 and an editorial writer the following year. Behrendt later served as editor of the newspaper's Crossroads section, and he was a member of the Journal Sentinel editorial board from 1995 — when the newspaper was formed through The Milwaukee Journal and Milwaukee Sentinel merger — until his retirement in 1998. He also was The Journal‘s editorial page editor from 1984 to 1995.

Susan Kay Siemens, 69, of Janesville, died on Saturday, May 11, at Agrace in Fitchburg after battling an illness.

The former graphic designer was born to Paul and Dolly Siemens in Freeport, Illinois. Later in life, she settled in Janesville and, after exploring different careers, found a passion for graphic design. She ran her own newspaper for a few years, and continued to be involved with design for Evergreen Impact and The Edgerton Reporter.  A private memorial service will be held at a later date.

Former Marshfield News-Herald editor and publisher William “Bill” Heath, 85, of Marshfield, died on May 5, after a battle with heart disease.

After earning a degree in journalism from UW-Madison in 1960, he started his career as a reporter and photographer for the Beloit Daily News, where he was promoted to city editor and, later, to assistant managing editor. In 1971, he and his family moved to Flagstaff, Arizona, where he worked as an editor and reporter for the Arizona Daily Sun. In 1976, the family returned in Wisconsin, and Heath joined the Marshfield News-Herald — first as editor and, later, as editor and publisher. He retired in 2001. 

Janet R. Carl, 63, died unexpectedly on Saturday, May 4, at Grant Regional Health Center in Lancaster.

She graduated from Fennimore High School in 1979 and then attended UW-Platteville, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and journalism. During college, she served as a reporter and editor at The Exponent student newspaper, was an intern at the Oshkosh Daily Northwestern, and freelanced for the Dubuque Telegraph Herald and the Milwaukee Journal. During her junior year at UW-Platteville, she was selected for a special student internship at the Wisconsin State Journal. She went on to earn a law degree from the University of Texas-Austin, and worked as an environmental attorney in Houston, Texas, St. Louis, and Scottsdale, Arizona.

Dorothy (Browne) Haines, 98, of Madison, died on April 22. She graduated in 1939 from Madison East High School before going on to attend UW-Madison, where she earned a degree in journalism and became the first female editor of The Daily Cardinal student newspaper.

She later went to work for her father’s East Side Print Shop, which also published the "East Side News," of which she served as editor. She would go on to become vice president of the business. Her love of history and journalism culminated with the writing of "Monona in the Making," published in 1999, for which she was awarded the Wisconsin Historical Society’s Local History Award of Merit.

Longtime Sheboygan Press community editor Mary Louise Eckardt, 74, of Eau Claire, died on May 12.

After graduating from North High School in Sheboygan, where she served as editor of the school's yearbook, she went on to earn a degree in journalism from UW-Madison in 1972, before joining the Merrill Daily Herald as a reporter. From there, she worked at the (Rochester, Minn.) Post-Bulletin and, by 1976, she'd returned to her hometown to work at the Sheboygan Press as community editor — a role she held for the next 30 years.

Richard “Dick” A. Nelson, a longtime journalism educator, 85, died on Jan. 23.

Nelson earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Northern Illinois University. In 1976, he earned a PhD in educational administration with a focus in journalism from UW-Madison. He taught high school journalism and English in Belvidere and Arlington Heights, Illinois, before serving as the head of the journalism department at UW-Whitewater. Fifty years ago, he founded the Kettle Moraine Press Association for Wisconsin high school newspaper and yearbook advisers.

Former Milwaukee journalist Mary Joanne Scheffel, 89, of Cedarburg, died on Sunday, April 28.

She graduated as valedictorian in 1953 from Oconto Falls High School, where she served as editor of the school newspaper. After earning her journalism degree in 1958 from Carroll College in Waukesha, she went on to join the Milwaukee Journal as a receptionist and editorial assistant, eventually becoming an editor of the Neighbors/Lifestyle section until her retirement in 1995.