Glenn McNeill Jr. announces retirement after 56-year newspaper career

When Glenn McNeill Jr. and his wife, Betsy, sold their newspaper publishing company (Campbell-McNeill Publishing Company) in 1996, Glenn decided to stay on board for a time during the transition period, working three days a week in advertising.

That “transition period” turned into 20 faithful years of additional service to Van Zandt Newspapers L.L.C. working with his colleagues and his customers.

All of that came to a close this week as McNeill announced his retirement ending 56 years of dedicated service in the newspaper publishing business which began in 1960.

Although he is best known for his connections with county newspapers, he has contributed to the county in other ways. He was named Outstanding Citizen of Van Zandt  County in 1978, and he was president of the Van Zandt County Fair Association one year.

Of his work with the newspapers, he said, “I was still enjoying waking up and going to work so I kept working. I have always enjoyed the relationships that I have built and maintained with the customers through the years.”

A retirement ceremony honoring the former president of Campbell-McNeill Publishing Co. and advertising representative of Van Zandt Newspaper L.L.C. will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 4, at the Wills Point Community Center.

McNeill, 79, was born in Stephenville and reared in Fort Worth. He is a 1955 graduate of North Side High School in Fort Worth, where he competed in basketball, track, and football.

After high school, he moved on to what was North Texas State University (now the University of North Texas) in Denton, where he joined the basketball team as a walk-on.

“I got beat out for a spot on the team by a 6’-8” guy,” recalled McNeill. “I went to school there with the thought of getting into coaching as a profession.”

McNeill transferred the next year at mid-term to what was known as Arlington Junior College (now the University of Texas at Arlington). He recalls, “I was working out with the team but not suiting up for the games because the coach wanted to save a year of my eligibility because the college was about to become a four-year school.

“My wife and I were expecting our first child and I quit school at Arlington to go to work for Eastman Products in Plano, where I made drawings of brass fittings as a draftsman,” said McNeill. “I worked there for two to three years.”

In January 1960, McNeill’s father-in-law, Tom Campbell along with Campbell’s brother, Jack, owned the Canton Herald and the Wills Point Chronicle, but early that year, the brothers divided the business with Tom taking the Chronicle and Jack taking the Herald. Later that year McNeill began to work at the family’s newspaper. Early in the McNeills’ marriage, on weekend visits to Wills Point, Glenn proved to his father-in-law that he had what it took to be a newspaperman/commercial printer when he worked part-time printing big jobs for a rose nursery in Tyler. Another pressman would print all day and Glenn would print until midnight two nights of the weekend. “I only knew how to put the paper and ink on the press. If the press messed up and I couldn’t fix it, I would have to quit for the night.” That was before he started to work in production fulltime at the Chronicle on July 11, 1960, his wife’s birthday.

“One of my jobs in production at the newspaper was setting the ads with hand type,” said McNeill. “Either my mother-in-law (Ellie Campbell) or I ran the large, hand-fed, newspaper press.” At that time, the Chronicle had 2,200 subscribers and the Herald had 1,800.

Another duty McNeill had at the Chronicle was covering the Wills Point Tiger football games, which he continued doing through the 2015 season.

“I have missed a few games over the last few years but for the first 38 years, I never missed a Wills Point football game, home or away, going back to 1960,” pointed out McNeill.

After McNeill and his wife, Betsy, bought a half-interest in the Chronicle in 1963, McNeill and his father-in-law bought the Herald in 1966 from Jack Campbell. “We enjoyed making our home in Wills Point and we did not want to move,” said McNeill. “We decided to join the publishing company as a partner at the invitation of my in-laws, and when my mother-in-law retired in 1986, we then bought a full interest in the company.”

In 1986, McNeill took care of the advertising and production areas while his wife handled writing and supervising the reporters and the accounting work. Daughter Elise was the business manager, which means that she was a very versatile person who could handle almost any job in the business. Between the three of them, they could do any job at the newspaper office.

In 1966, the partnership went to offset printing and modernized in almost every department. From that time, McNeill said, we could publish more pictures and do the typesetting by computers and printers instead of by Linotype and letter press. About 1982, the McNeills' son, Thomas, proposed that since he was majoring in computer science, that the publishing company buy a computer and he would write the subscription, classified advertising, and display advertising programs for their newspapers. Glenn and Betsy agreed and from that beginning, Thomas sold and serviced newspaper software in many newspapers in Texas before going back to college to complete his computer science degrees.

Before the McNeills took over total ownership of Campbell-McNeill Publishing Company, they and Ellie Campbell began a First Monday Trade Days monthly publication in 1977 known as the Canton Guide, in addition to starting the Van Zandt News, a county-wide weekly newspaper, in 1982. Both publications are still printing today.

Campbell-McNeill Publishing Company also started the Van Banner in 1985 but ceased printing that publication two years later.

The Banner resumed publication in 1999 by the current owner, Van Zandt Newspapers L.L.C., and is still printing today.

“The Canton Guide started out as a four-page map to the First Monday Grounds, in 1977,” said McNeill. “We decided to start the Van Zandt News primarily because of competition. We had thought about going to a twice-a-week printing schedule for the Herald and the Chroniclebut we decided to start the Van Zandt News instead. This allowed us to increase our staff somewhat including three editors from outside the family, and our first sports editor. Without a doubt, the Canton Guide and the Van Zandt News exceeded our expectations.”

One of the major changes that McNeill has seen over the past 50-plus years in the newspaper business is the advancement of technology.

“The circulation in our newspapers continued to grow. Even though the Internet has had a major effect, in my opinion, it has hurt the daily newspaper more than the weekly newspaper, which has been affected hardly at all. A weekly newspaper, which covers hometown and area news, is kept in homes longer than a daily newspaper, giving people an opportunity to look over the local ads and local news many times if they wish.”

While working in the newspaper business, McNeill has had other business interests including raising Charolais cattle and hay. He is no longer raising Charolais but is continuing to raise hay today.

The former North Side High basketball player also enjoys competing in the Texas Senior Olympics each year in the basketball free-throw competition where he has won the state championship in his age division 12 times, including nine out of the last 10 years. He won second place five times.

In nine victories, McNeill made an impressive 210 out of a possible 215 free throws. “I may retire from this also,” announced McNeill. “This may be my last year to compete.”

McNeill has also stayed very active in his church. In 1969, he and his family became the first family in Wills Point that was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. They attended church in Dallas for some time.

“My wife and I helped start a small branch of our church in Terrell in the early 1970’s and the branch remained in Terrell for five years,” recalled McNeill. “I was president of that branch for six and one-half years, serving in Terrell and Wills Point. We had 90 members when the branch moved to Wills Point in 1976. We moved to our current building in Wills Point on Highway 47 North on Jan. 25, 1987. I was called to serve on the High Council in Dallas and later in Tyler when the Tyler stake was formed. I was bishop of the Wills Point church from August 2008 through August 2013," McNeill explained.

“We now have about 350 members in the Van Zandt/Rains County area,” he said. Before and during Bishop McNeill’s tenure, the congregation reached about 550 members. Two hundred and twenty-five of those 550 members were moved to form the new Kaufman-Forney ward so that they could attend a church closer to their homes.

The calling of branch president for a smaller church and of bishop for larger congregation is, as all other positions, non-paid. The church is a lay church.

Some of McNeill’s co-workers at Van Zandt Newspapers L.L.C. shared their thoughts about the former publisher of the company.

Glenn is the most patient man I have ever worked with,” emphasized Linda Nielsen, accounting department at Van Zandt Newspapers L.L.C. “He was always kind and caring when we worked in the back getting the papers ready. If anyone messed up, he did not get upset, just fixed the problem and never made you feel bad for messing up. Wanda Huddleston and I used to tease Glenn about coming right in when we were finished getting the papers ready to mail. He always laughed and said he was driving around the block until we finished. He has always been a pleasure to be around.”

“Glenn was instrumental in my education of selling ads,” pointed out Susan Harrison, general manager of The Monitor in Mabank. “He was patient as he taught me his proven, successful strategies and the important role of always calling on the customer on the same day, same time, so they can expect you and depend on you. He also taught me the importance of having customers keep their ad in the paper because you never know when a potential customer might need our customer’s product or service. As I spent this quality time training with Glenn, I got to know one of the most kind and sweet individuals I have ever had the opportunity to know. Glenn is a true example of a Christian, a real gentleman and a great co-worker. I will miss you, Glenn, and will always treasure the time I spent with you ‘learning the business.’ Enjoy retirement with Betsy and keep in touch.”

“Glenn has the unique ability to say a lot in very few words,” said David Barber, advertising representative at Van Zandt Newspapers L.L.C. “In my 33 plus years of working for and working with Glenn, I can truthfully say that I have never seen the man get upset about anything. He has always been in total control. I have never to this day stopped learning something from him about advertising or the newspaper business in general. I had never sold an ad in my life until I started working for Glenn. He is a great teacher. His ability to work with customers without applying any high pressure sales tactics is something that I have come to respect through the years. He has meant so much to me in my adult life and I cannot thank him enough for all he has done for me.”

 “When Glenn first came to me and said he was thinking about retiring, I selfishly convinced him to hang in there because we enjoyed having him here and we needed him,” said Brad Blakemore, publisher of Van Zandt Newspapers L.L.C. “Glenn’s great work ethic and experience proved to be a great example for me and our team and I didn’t want to lose him. He is without a doubt one of the most tender-hearted, hard-working and creative people I have worked with in this industry. His retirement will be a big loss to our sales team but I am glad to see he will be able to spend more time with family. Our door is always open should he ever decide to return.”

McNeill and his wife have three children and seven grandchildren and they are looking forward to spending more time with their family, their church activities and traveling as two of their three children reside in the state of Utah.

“We spent the Christmas holidays with our children and grandchildren in Utah and are already making plans to go back and visit again,” concluded McNeill. “When we sold the company in 1996, I did not expect to work another 20 years but the time has come to move on to the next chapter in my life. I have no regrets and I have certainly enjoyed the time that I have spent through the years with the employees and the customers. Betsy and I are ready to do some traveling.”

Editor’s Note: David Barber is a 33 ½ year employee of Van Zandt Newspapers L. L. C. and works as an advertising representative for the company. He was hired by the McNeills in August, 1982.