DUANE
Duane's take
Here's what the official marker has to say, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now settle in, because this is one of those stories where two people show up separately, find each other, and then — between the two of them — practically build a county's memory from scratch. We're talking about Clyde and Grace Warwick, out of Randall County, Texas.
Both of them Iowa natives, if you can believe it. Grace Winkleman arrived in Canyon City in 1908. Clyde Warwick followed in 1910.
And in 1911, they made it official — married, and set about becoming two of the most consequential people this stretch of the Panhandle ever produced. Now, that's a lot of pressure to put on a young couple, but they rose to meet every bit of it. Clyde took the editor's chair at The Canyon News and held it for forty-five years.
Forty-five. That's not a career, that's a vigil. Along the way he picked up state and national awards for his work, served as a State Representative, sat on the school board, helped form the Panhandle-Plains Historical Society, and held the presidency of the Panhandle Press Association.
The man was not in the habit of sitting still. But here's where the story gets even better, because Grace was not riding along in anyone's shadow. She was in the first graduating class of West Texas Normal College — first graduating class, mind you — went on to become Superintendent of Dimmitt Schools, and was a charter member of that same Panhandle-Plains Historical Society she and Clyde helped bring into being.
She wrote columns and articles for The Canyon News for years. And then, in 1969, she published The Randall County Story, a book that the marker calls — and I'm not embellishing here — a seminal work in local history. Grace lived to 1973.
Clyde had passed in 1957. Between his birth in 1885 and her last breath in 1973, these two Iowa transplants spent the better part of a century pouring themselves into Randall County. Two people.
One newspaper. One history book. And the kind of record that outlasts just about everything else.
Not bad for a couple of folks who came down from Iowa and decided this flat, wide-open piece of Texas was worth remembering.
What the marker says
Iowa natives Grace Winkleman (1890-1973) and Clyde Warwick (1885-1957) came to Canyon City in 1908 and 1910, respectively, marrying in 1911. Clyde was editor of The Canyon News for 45 years, receiving state and national awards. He was also a State Representative and school board member, helped form the Panhandle-Plains Historical Society, and was president of the Panhandle Press Association. Grace was in the first graduating class of West Texas Normal College, Superintendent of Dimmitt Schools, and charter member of the Panhandle-Plains Historical Society. She wrote many columns and articles for the News, and her book The Randall County Story (1969) remains a seminal work in local history. 175 years of Texas Independence * 1836-2011