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David Wagner, who helped lead the 1977 newspaper strike in Madison, died on Tuesday, Feb. 21, in Tempe, Arizona. He was 78.

Wagner graduated from high school in Bradford, Pennsylvania, and went on to earn his bachelor’s degree in comparative literature from UW-Madison. He became poetry editor of the underground newspaper Connections, and a short-time editor of the alternative weekly, Madison Kaleidoscope. He worked at The Capital Times from 1966 to 1972, as a protege of former editor Elliott Maraniss. Following the newspaper's strike, Wagner went on to work as editorial page editor of the The Waukesha Freeman and as an editor at The Arizona Republic until his early retirement for health reasons.

Mandy Jenkins, a digital news leader who worked as a news producer for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel from 2004 to 2007, died Sunday, Feb. 26, in Zanesville, Ohio, after nearly four years of cancer treatment. She was 42.

She most recently worked as Head of Product at Factal, a breaking news technology company, and previously served as General Manager at The Compass Experiment, a partnership between Google and McClatchy to explore sustainable business models for local news, wrote Carrie Blazina for the Online News Association. Jenkins served eight years on the ONA Board, including a term as president from 2018-19.

Ardis Bloom Swenson, former publisher of The Stanley Republican, died on Jan. 27. She was 95.

Ardis and her late husband, Ralph, moved frequently as he grew his newspaper business. In 1960, they purchased The Stanley Republican, where they worked together until 1964, when Ralph died at the age of 39. Following his death, Ardis became publisher and editor of the newspaper, and wrote a column "The Melting Pot." She sold the newspaper in August 1968 to Joseph Frazedin of Fulda, Minnesota.

Former reporter Jean A. Vanden Branden died on Feb. 14 at the age of 94.

A native of Green Bay, she was born on Sept. 21, 1928, to Helena (Denissen) and Charles Katers. She graduated in 1946 from St. Joseph’s Academy in Green Bay. Later, she obtained her broker’s license in real estate and worked as a reporter for the Catholic monthly newspaper, The Compass. 

Richard Craig Heine, 73, of Delavan, died on Monday, Jan. 30, at Vintage on the Ponds in Delavan. A native of New London, Heine became a small-town newspaper reporter and photographer before transitioning to corporate communications at Rexnord Corporation. He later moved onto a role in employee communications and promotions at the Milwaukee Journal.

Joyce Pattee, a former sales employee for The (Fond du Lac) Reporter, died on Thursday, Feb. 9, at Prairie Ridge in Waupun at the age of 90.

Pattee was born on May 16, 1932, in Fond du Lac, to Warren and Frances Bentley Balson. She was a graduate of Goodrich High School in Fond du Lac. Following graduation, she was employed in the advertising department of The Reporter. 

Mary Ruth Schmutzler, former editor of the Deerfield Independent, died on Jan. 18 in Shawano, following a long illness. She was 73.

After graduating, she was named editor of the Deerfield Independent, and in January 1972, she wed Dean Schmutzler in Beaver Dam. In 1974, they moved to Green Bay, where she became the news editor for the Catholic Diocese newspaper The Spirit. The couple also later published the Northeast Wisconsin edition of the Builder/Architect magazine.

Frederick "Fred" Herman Keller, a longtime reporter for the Sussex Sun, died Thursday, Jan. 12, reports the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He was 91.

Keller worked as a reporter for the newspaper — now Northwest Now — for nearly 40 years. While at the newspaper, he covered city news and sporting events.

William Burl Blankenburg, professor emeritus of the UW-Madison School of Journalism, died on Jan. 1, in Palo Alto, California, at the age of 90.

In 1968, Blankenburg moved to Madison to accept a teaching position at UW. In his nearly 30-year academic career, he instructed thousands of undergraduate journalism students, advised countless master's and Ph.D. candidates, and published original research and books in the field of newspaper economics and the societal effects of mass media.

Edward Byrne, a longtime Wisconsin journalist, died on Wednesday, Nov. 30, at the age of 74. Most recently, he worked as a reporter for The Brillion News, where he covered local schools and government. He held the position for 13 before suffering a major stroke on April 1.

Prior to joining The Brillion News, Byrne served as a reporter an editor for Gannett newspapers in Wisconsin — including the Green Bay Press-Gazette and (Appleton) Post-Crescent — from 1996 to 2008.