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1964-65 Aubrey McAlister Bonham Daily Favorite

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Aubrey Lee McAlister, 87th president, was born Oct. 5, 1911, in Walters, Okla. He died May 15, 2001, in Temple (full obituary).

McAlister graduated from Cameron College, a junior college in Lawton, Okla., and received his journalism degree from Oklahoma State University (then Oklahoma A&M).

He met Audrey Wiley while working in South Texas. They married on July 15, 1935.

Shortly after, McAlister was hired by a Stillwater, Okla., newspaper. He was working for Oklahoma A&M College as director of student publications when World War II broke out.

Although exempt from the draft, McAlister enlisted in the U.S. Navy, going through boot camp in San Diego. He was one of the first 20 reporters sent out under the Enlisted Navy Correspondent Program during World War II.

After the war, he became co-owner and publisher of the Hominy (Okla.) News. He later sold the News and became owner and publisher of the Grove (Okla.) Sun.

In 1955, McAlister and a partner bought the Bonham Daily Favorite where he was publisher until it sold in 1976. He continued to operate the Whitewright Sun for several years.