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Sandra A. "Sandy" Cota, who spent her career as a newspaper reporter in Iowa and Wisconsin, died Friday, Oct. 8. She was 89.

After graduating from Gillett High School in northeastern Wisconsin, she went on to earn her college degree in journalism. Cota started her career in newspapers with the (Dubuque, Iowa) Telegraph Herald, where she worked as a reporter, before moving on to work in the newsrooms of The (Racine) Journal Times and The Milwaukee Journal.

Alan Goldsmith, who worked in the family newspaper business at The Boscobel Dial, died Sunday, Sept. 12, at his home in Kenosha. He was 76.

While growing up, Goldsmith worked at The Dial, which his parents — both of whom are members of the Wisconsin Newspaper Hall of Fame — owned from 1956 to 1992. He went on to a career in education, teaching graphic design, web design, package design, typography, digital photography and computer illustration at UW-Richland, Mount Senario College and UW-Parkside.

Nancy “Nan” C. Branen, who with her family owned the Burlington Standard Press and Southern Lakes Media for many years, died Friday, Sept. 10, at her home in Burlington. She was 91.

A Milwaukee native, she married William E. “Bill” Branen on June 18, 1949, and five years later Bill bought the Standard Democrat, starting the family's 50-year run of newspaper ownership. Following her husband's death, Nan served as board chair for Southern Lakes Media, the parent company of the Standard Press and the family’s other weekly newspapers. She also handled accounting, ad layout and proofreading for the newsgroup and served as publisher of the Poynette Press and Evansville Leader.

Barbara Hipp Fiore, who worked many years in newspaper production for The Edgerton Reporter, died Monday, Aug. 30. She was 81.

After marrying her ex-husband, James, Fiore moved to Madison — where she started her newspaper career with The Edgerton Reporter. She worked in pre-press for the newspaper and held a strong belief in the role local newspapers held in their communities. Her work at The Reporter led her to purchase a screenprinting business, Silk Screen Creations. She continued in both roles until retiring in 2011.

Donna Delight Hansen, who started her longtime career in newspapers at the Waushara Argus in Wautoma, died Monday, Aug. 30, in Olathe, Kan. She was 84.

A Michigan native, she moved to Wisconsin with her family as a youth and earned a degree in music education in 1958 from Wisconsin State College-Stevens Point. A few years later, she met her future husband, Ramon Hansen, publisher of the local newspaper, the Waushara Argus. He hired Donna as the paper's office manager in 1961, and kept in touch after selling the newspaper three years later. The couple was married on March 13, 1965, in Nebraska, and went on to own several newspapers together, including publications in Kansas, Arkansas and New York.

Robert Dye, who served as an editor at the Milwaukee Sentinel before joining the communications department of its parent company, died Monday, Sept. 3. He was 74.

A Missouri native, Dye attended Baylor University and started his career in Kansas City, Mo. According to his Milwaukee Journal Sentinel obituary, Dye was hired by the Sentinel while on a layover in the city during a trip to Canada for another job interview. He went on to serve as an assignment editor, assistant city editor and news systems editor for the Sentinel. He later served as vice president of corporate communications for the newspaper's parent company, Journal Communications, where he

Victor Hoberg, who worked nearly 50 years for The Sheboygan Press, died Thursday, Aug. 26, in Sheboygan. He was 99.

After graduating from Sheboygan North High School, Hoberg started working as a newspaper delivery driver for The Press. But just five months later, his career with the newspaper was interrupted when he enlisted in the U.S. Army during World War II. In  1946, he returned to The Press, where he worked in the mailroom and delivered newspapers to carriers. He later became manager of the advertising services department, a role he held through his retirement in 1987.

H. Mitchell Bliss, who spent nearly 17 years as a part of The Janesville Gazette newsroom, died Thursday, Aug. 26, in Janesville. He was 96.

Bliss — no relation to the Bliss family that owned the newspaper — joined The Gazette in 1957 and served as a reporter until 1965, when he was named city editor. In 1983, after a five-year hiatus working in public relations for the State Bar of Wisconsin, he was named editor of the newspaper. It's a position he held until his retirement in 1989. 

Bob Franzmann, who worked for more than 30 years at the Wisconsin State Journal in Madison, died Monday, July 19. He was 86.

Born in Coloma, Mich., Franzmann attended UW-Milwaukee, where he discovered his love of journalism. He graduated in 1962 as a part of the school’s first class of journalism graduates before starting his newspaper career at the Rhinelander Daily News. He spent a year there before joining the State Journal newsroom, where he remained until his retirement in 1994.