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Dennis West, longtime editor and publisher of The Beacon in Williams Bay, died Wednesday, Jan. 28, at his Williams Bay home. He was 78.

After spending the first two decades of his career at WIFR-TV in Rockford, West attended UW-Madison and earned his journalism degree in 1992. After graduating, he moved to the Lake Geneva area, where he joined The (Williams) Bay Times. He later purchased The Beacon, of which he served as editor and publisher for several years before selling the newspaper in October 2017 to Southern Lakes Newspapers. He continued on as editor of The Beacon until retiring in February 2020.

Raymond Eugene Schoenfield, an award-winning former teacher and newspaper adviser at Beloit Memorial High School, died Saturday, Feb. 5, in Rockford. He was 86. Schoenfield started his teaching career at Beloit Memorial High School in 1961 and was named the head of the English department in 1981. Throughout his 36-year career, he taught a variety of classes, including media and journalism. He also served as the adviser for The Increscent school newspaper. 

Schoenfield served as state director of the Journalism Education Association and vice president of the Wisconsin Journalism Teacher-Advisors' Council. His efforts were recognized through several awards during his career, including Wisconsin Journalism Advisor of the Year in 1974 and Wisconsin PTA Teacher of the Year in 1992.

Herbert "Herb" L. Kohlbeck, a longtime Manitowoc County business owner who also delivered newspapers, died Wednesday, Jan. 19, at his home in rural Whitelaw. He was 96.

In addition to delivering newspapers for the (Manitowoc) Herald Times Reporter, Kohlbeck and his wife, Marie, owned and operated Kohlbeck's Riverview Inn at Reifs Mills for more than 34 years. 

David P. Jenkins, a longtime attorney and judge who spent college summers working as a reporter for The (Appleton) Post-Crescent, died Sunday, Jan. 9, at his home in Middleton. He was 72.

In high school, Jenkins covered sports for the student newspaper and attended a summer journalism institute at Northwestern University. He studied political science and economics at UW-Madison, earning his bachelor's degree in 1971. While at UW, he served on the Board of Directors for The Daily Cardinal student newspaper. During his summers back home in Seymour, he worked as a reporter for The Post-Crescent in nearby Appleton.

Patricia Raab, who in the 1980s served as managing editor of the (Cedarburg) News Graphic Pilot, died Thursday, Jan. 6. She was 85.

After earning her journalism degree in 1958 from Marquette University, Raab started her journalism career as a columnist for the Peoria (Ill.) Heights Herald. In 1979, she joined the Port Washington Pilot as a reporter. Following a merger with the (Cedarburg) News Graphic, she went on to be named managing editor of the News Graphic Pilot until 1985, when she and her husband moved to Naperville, Ill.

After the couple returned to Ozaukee County in 1992, Raab spent time as night editor for The Milwaukee Journal before rejoining the News Graphic as a staff writer.

John David Adams II, a baptist minister-turned-journalist who was known for innovation and mentorship, died Thursday, Jan. 13, at his sister's home in Paloma, Ill. He was 46 and had been diagnosed in 2018 with stage 4 cancer.

After college, Adams worked for several years as a youth pastor before returning to school in 2008 and to earn his master's degree in journalism. In 2016, he was named deputy editor of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, where he worked until moving to Phoenix in 2018 to join The Arizona Republic. Prior to moving to Milwaukee, Adams worked at the Los Angeles Times, where he won a Pulitzer Prize as part of the newspaper's team that covered the 2015 mass shooting in San Bernardino, Calif.

Mary Marik, a longtime contributor and former managing editor of the Washington Island Observer, died Monday, Dec. 27, at her home in Chicago. She was 76.

Mary and her husband, Warren, moved to Washington Island in 2008, and were involved for many years with the Observer. Following the 2012 sale of the newspaper to a group of 15 families, she was named managing editor and Warren served on the newspaper's board of directors.

She served in the role for a year before stepping down in 2013, but she continued to contribute to the newspaper and served on its board. The obituary credited her as being "instrumental in developing the Observer into the Wisconsin Newspaper Association and state-recognized official paper it is today."

Patricia "Pat" Kwallek, who served for many years as editor of the Grant County Herald Independent, died last month, the Lancaster newspaper reports. She was 88.

Kwallek started at the Grant County Independent in the 1950s, stayed on through the merger with the Grant County Herald and remained with the newspaper in various roles until her retirement in 1986. During more than 30 years with the Herald Independent, Kwallek served as a reporter, columnist, editor and photographer. She also was a correspondent for The Capital Times in the 1960s and 1970s, writing stories and shooting photos of Lancaster-area news for the Madison newspaper.

Paul Adams Rix, a former state government reporter for the Wisconsin State Journal, died Wednesday, Dec. 15, in Mequon. He was 74.

Rix spent his career as a newspaper and magazine reporter. He joined the State Journal in 1978 as a member of the newspaper's Capitol reporting team. Prior to his time with the Madison newspaper, he worked at the Clintonville Tribune and five years at the Kankakee (Ill.) Daily Journal.