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Former Wisconsin journalist Debra Claxton, 70, died on Sunday, February 18, in Greeley, Colorado.

Born April 22, 1953, to Robert and Barbara Willson in Manchester, Iowa, she graduated from high school in 1971 and attended Worthington State Junior College. She earned a bachelor's degree in mass communications in 1975 from Mankato State University, where she worked on the school newspaper The Reporter. She moved to Pepin, Wisconsin, in 1994 and began working for the Courier-Wedge in 1997 — first as a reporter and then the editor.

Ramon De Vere “Ray” Hansen, former owner of the Waushara Argus, died on Feb. 11, at Good Samaritan Center, Olathe, Kansas. He was 97.

Following his discharge from the U.S. Navy in June 1946, he attended the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism, graduating with honors in 1949. Hansen purchased the Waushara Argus in Wautoma, in October 1959, selling the newspaper in 1964 before moving to Kansas and marrying Donna Delight Toepper the following year. Throughout their 56-year marriage, the couple owned community newspapers in Kansas, Arkansas and New York.

Joann Schrauth, an accomplished writer and photographer for The (Fond Du Lac) Reporter since 1979, died on Tuesday, Jan. 16, in Fond du Lac. She was 82.

She began freelance writing in 1971 and joined The Reporter in 1979. Her work included covering local village board and school board meetings, as well as her own personal stories of miscarriages and loss. She was known for having a true sense of journalism and taught her children about bylines, shorthand, punctuation, proper use of quotation marks and Robert's Rules of Order. She received awards for her work from the WNA’s Better Newspaper Contest.

Lawrence "Larry" Robert Brunet, a former manager of the Milwaukee Journal office in Green Bay, died on Tuesday, Jan. 2, in Green Bay, after a prolonged battle with COPD. He was 84.

Born in Milwaukee, his family relocated to the Fond du Lac area during his childhood. A standout athlete, Brunet graduated from Goodrich High School and UW-Oshkosh, where he earned a full football scholarship. In 1961, he served in the reserves as a Marine before moving to Green Bay in his late 20s. During this time, he ran the Journal's Green Bay bureau. 

Stephen Maersch, a longtime Wisconsin journalist and member of the Milwaukee Press Club's Media Hall of Fame, died on Friday, Jan. 12, in Greendale. He was 86.

His early experiences included part-time roles at the Sheboygan Press and the The (Madison) Capital Times, as well as stints at the Chicago Tribune, Melbourne (Australia) Herald and Durban (South Africa) Daily News. In 1969, he landed a job as a copy editor with The Milwaukee Journal. "It was his best career move ever," he wrote in the obituary he penned himself. He worked at the paper for 25 years, retiring in 1995.

Robert Berglund, former publisher of the (Loyal) Tribune Record Gleaner, member of the Wisconsin Newspaper Hall of Fame and a WNA past president, died on Saturday, Dec. 30. He was 93.

 In 1969, he and his late wife, Florence, merged the Loyal Tribune, Spencer Record and Greenwood Gleaner into the Tribune Record Gleaner, which they operated until selling the business in 1998. Just weeks before his death, Berglund announced that after spending 56 years in the newspaper industry and writing 2,900 columns, he'd written his last "Over the Back Fence" column.

Carroll Kraus, a distinguished copy editor with a notable career at The Milwaukee Journal, died on Dec. 5 in Milwaukee — one day after his 84th birthday.

Before joining the U.S. Army, where he was a public information officer, Carroll served as editor of the Daily Nebraskan and as a reporter for the Lincoln Journal. After his military service, he joined the copy desk at the Des Moines Register. In 1970, he moved to Milwaukee, joining The Milwaukee Journal, where he worked for more than 40 years.

David James Grey, a former journalist and editor with the Oshkosh  Northwestern, died on Dec. 15, in Oshkosh, after a long battle with Progressive Supranuclear Palsy. He was 78.

Grey began his journalism career that year as a sportswriter for the Northwestern. His tenure with the newspaper spanned 36 years, during which he served as city editor, business editor and special editions manager. In 2002, he shifted his professional focus to real estate, joining Schwab Realty in Oshkosh, where he worked until his retirement in 2020.

Patrick Riedy, a former Wisconsin journalist, died Wednesday, Nov. 29, in Casco, at the age of 92.

His career in journalism began as a young man, serving as a reporter and editor for various newspapers, including stints in Green Bay and Milwaukee. He later worked in plumbing and heating sales for Sears and then for Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corporation.

Jane Dwyre Garton, a distinguished Wisconsin journalist, educator and philanthropist, died on Nov. 24 in Appleton. She was 77. She attended North High School, where she worked on the student newspaper, the Urbanite, before going on to earn a journalism degree from the University of Dayton in 1968.

Garton's early work included serving as a sports information officer at Lawrence University in the 1970s, where she championed female athletes' rights under Title IX. She continued to break gender barriers through her pioneering career in the newspaper business, where she often faced challenges as one of the only women in the newsroom. During her time at the (Appleton) Post-Crescent, she excelled as a beat reporter and editor, covering mental health, government, agriculture and women in sports. She went on to earn a master's degree in journalism from Indiana University before turning to teaching journalism at UW-Oshkosh and UW-Fox Valley.