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John Walter Hillmer, whose 41-year career at The Freeman saw him go from the press room to the board room, died Wednesday, Sept. 23. He was 91.

Hillmer in 1950 also started his career at The Freeman, taking a position as a composing room printer. He remained with the newspaper for 41 years, going on to serve as composing room foreman, business manager, and general manager of the newspaper. Hillmer also served on the board of directors and was named president of the board in 1977.

Loren Martin “Marty” Hintz, a longtime Milwaukee journalist and author who published more than 125 books, died Sunday, Sept. 20, at his Shorewood home. He was 75.

In 1967, Hintz moved to Milwaukee to work for the Milwaukee Sentinel as an editor and reporter. He transitioned to freelance work in 1975 and went on to author more than 125 books on a variety of topics. Hintz — a mainstay in Milwaukee’s Irish-American community — also launched The Irish American Post in 1991 and served as publisher of the newspaper.

Paula Jean DeWitt, who with her husband co-owned the (Glenwood City) Tribune Press Reporter and the Colfax Messenger, died Monday, Sept. 14, at her home, following a 22-month battle with pancreatic cancer. She was 75.

The DeWitts purchased the Glenwood City Tribune and later added the Boyceville Press-Reporter in 1984, which they merged with the Tribune to form the Tribune Press Reporter. In 1995, they added the Colfax Messenger, which they purchased from longtime owner and publisher Lyle Christianson.

Longtime Wisconsin journalist Dian Shirley Page died Friday, Aug. 14. She was 85.

Page started her newspaper career at the Mankato Free Press, before moving on to serve as women’s editor for the (Eau Claire) Leader-Telegram and as a reporter and copy editor for the Oshkosh Daily Northwestern. In 1970, she joined the staff of the Green Bay Press-Gazette, where she would remain until her retirement in 1998.

Harvey Leonard Kroboth, a former longtime member of The Milwaukee Journal advertising department, died Aug. 6 in Riverside, Calif. He was 94.

After graduating from Milwaukee Art School, Kroboth worked at Gimbels and J.C. Penney before joining the copy service department of The Journal in 1952. Eventually, he moved up to promotion manager and went on to spend the rest of his career at The Journal until retiring in 1980.

Laurel Walker, a longtime journalist who covered Waukesha County for more than 35 years, died Friday, July 17, after a two-year battle with cancer. She was 71.

Walker joined The (Waukesha) Freeman in 1976, where she worked as a reporter for nearly 10 years. In 1986, she left The Freeman to take a position as a Waukesha County reporter for the Milwaukee Journal. Walker continued in that role until 1997, when she became a columnist for the Journal Sentinel. She retired from the paper in 2012.

Arlene Carol Jensen, who worked for more than three decades as a reporter for the Kenosha News, died Friday, Feb. 28, at Saint Mary’s Hospital in Janesville. She was 82.

While working at a Kenosha radio station in the early 1960s, she met Donald Jensen of Racine, and they were married Dec. 9, 1967, in Kenosha. After they settled on Kenosha’s west side, Jensen joined the Kenosha News, where she worked for 35 years as a reporter.

Curt W. “Bill” Hibbard Jr., a longtime reporter and editor for the Milwaukee Journal, died Wednesday, July 1. He was 92.

After graduating with his journalism degree from UW-Madison in 1950, Hibbard started his career covering city hall and police for the Dubuque Telegraph-Herald in Iowa. A year later, he returned to Wisconsin to join the reporting staff at the Journal, where he served in several roles, including writing for the men’s lifestyle section and traveling around the word as the newspaper’s travel editor.

L. Roger Turner, a longtime Wisconsin State Journal photographer and mentor to scores of photojournalists, died Friday at a Madison inpatient facility. He was 84.

Turner joined the State Journal in 1966 and retired in 1997. During his career, he created some of the most iconic news photos of Madison, his obituary notes.

Stephen D. “Steve” Ciccantelli, former publisher of the (West Bend) Daily News and vice president of sales for Conley Media, died Monday, June 15, at his lake home in Waupaca. He was 68.

In the early years of his career, Ciccantelli worked for a variety of publications, including Liturgical Publications in West Allis, the Milwaukee Business Journal, Community Newspapers in suburban Milwaukee and Lakeshore Newspapers Inc., which served Ozaukee County. He joined Conley in 1990 as advertising director of the (Beaver Dam) Daily Citizen.