Longtime newspaper staffer passes

The Van Zandt Newspapers family lost one of its most well-known and beloved members Nov. 26 with the passing of Wanda Alberta “Bert” Turner at the age of 81.

Born in Illinois, Turner and her husband Robert moved to Dallas before eventually settling in Wills Point in 1966. She served as office manager at the Chronicle office for 44 years before retiring in 2012.

Shortly before her retirement, Turner recalled her start at the paper. “When I first started, we did all of our subscriptions on an Addressograph. This metal with the address on it went into a tray, and you slid the paper through and the machine put the address on them. We had the little press in the smaller room. Everybody worked back there when it was paper day. (Former owner) Tom Campbell passed away and soon after, we got the new press. I remember we were all back there, and they were showing us all how it was to be run. Right after that, we got the inserter.”

Former newspaper co-owner Betsy McNeill noted, “I think a lot of them liked to walk in and see a face they knew as well. When Bert Turner worked for Glenn (McNeill, Jr.) and me at the newspaper office, we depended on her for a lot of things, but one thing stands out in my memory. If we wanted to know who someone was, we could ask Bert because she knew everybody in Wills Point and who their kinfolks were. That was a valuable asset to a newspaper staff. 

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