Russel Skiles retires after four decades with Lamesa Press-Reporter

By MARY ELIZABETH DAVIS

Lamesa Press-Reporter

During more than four decades as a Lamesa Press-Reporter journalist, Russel Skiles has told the stories of a Holocaust survivor and the community-wide effort that brought a state prison to town.

But those are just a couple of the many stories which Skiles recalled as he retired July 19 as the newspaper’s publisher.

“Those are just some of the more memorable stories – there’s a ton of them,” Skiles said. But now he’s looking forward to letting someone else take over and tell the stories about the people and activities in Lamesa and Dawson County.

“It’s just time,” Skiles said about his reasons for retiring. “To relax and get away from the pressure; spend more time doing what I want to do.”

His retirement doesn’t mean Skiles is completely leaving the newspaper. He’ll still be around to assist the paper when it needs him and when he’s available.

“I’ll still be helping at times, I’m sure,” he said.

Skiles’ tenure at the paper began on March 10, 1980. At that time the paper was part of the Roberts Publishing Group. The Press-Reporter was sold last October to Scott Wesner and Scott Wood.

A native of Langtry, Skiles graduated from Comstock High School in 1975. Becoming a journalism major during his second year at Angelo State University, he later served as editor of the school’s newspaper, The Ram Page, and spent a summer working as a reporter for the Del Rio News-Herald. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in journalism in December of 1979.

A few months later, the 23-year-old Skiles was hired by then-publisher Walter Buckel as a reporter and photographer for the Press Reporter. A year later, he took over as the news editor. He later became the paper’s editor before taking on the role of publisher in 1991. He was part-owner of the newspaper for a number of years, and also headed South Plains Printing, which prints not only the Press-Reporter but various other newspapers serving communities across the region.

Skiles said he has enjoyed sharing information with the people of the community.

One story he recalled was the time he met a Holocaust survivor. For two hours, she told her story to a classroom of junior high students who didn’t budge from their seats. She was her family’s only survivor. The only item she was able to keep from her past life was a family photo she hid in her shoe. She later married one of the American soldiers who helped liberate her and other survivors from a concentration camp.

He remembers the time when local leaders were seeking to convince state officials to locate a prison here, which would be a big Lamesa economic boost.

“It was a big deal to be selected as the location,” Skiles remembers. “There were a lot of towns competing to get a prison in their community. We took a whole bus load of people from Lamesa to Austin to show their support.”

The Preston E. Smith Prison Unit began operations in October 1992.

Skiles has been re-discovering some of the stories and photos he’s taken as he clears out his office to make way for the new publisher, Joe Warren.

“I got to cover lots of things in the community, good and bad,” Skiles said. “Just lots of good people. I appreciate them telling their stories.”

One of the biggest impacts the Press-Reporter had on his life was meeting a co-worker who eventually became his wife. Diane Lambright of Lamesa was hired to work at the paper a few months after Skiles. They married in 1983. Diane later left the paper to return to college and get her teaching degree. She retired last year after having taught at Lamesa Middle School and then for a number of years at Klondike High School.

They are the parents of two adult children. Their daughter, Kimberly, and her husband, Nathan Vaughan, are the parents of two girls, Lilly and Amelia. They are missionaries living in South Africa. Their son, Aaron, and his wife, Madison, married last year and make their home in Lubbock.

As a journalist and photographer, Skiles has attended hundreds of city, county, school and other meetings over the years. He has witnessed Lamesa High School being renovated not once but twice, and has covered everything from 100th-birthday celebrations to tragic traffic accidents.

He even covered a wedding on the football field at the halftime of a six-man football game.

He and the paper have earned numerous awards over the years on the regional, state and national levels.

The paper received a national award for its photographs and coverage of the high winds and flooding that impacted Lamesa and its residents two years ago. That came after a year of day-to-day coverage of the impact of COVID-19 on the community and its people, including a special section on the first anniversary of COVID’s arrival.

“It’s all about serving the community,” Skiles said.

During his career, Skiles served as president of both the West Texas Press Association and the Texas Press Association. He currently serves on the board of the Texas Newspaper Foundation.

Skiles also has served the community in various ways, ranging from president of the Chamber of Commerce to involvement in various civic clubs. He was one of original Friends of Movieland board members, and has been a director of the non-profit Northridge Retirement Center for a number of years. Skiles is an active member of First Baptist Church.

Skiles and his wife plan to continue living here and perhaps do a little traveling. “At first just kind of relax – do some things at home that need to be done,” he said of his retirement plans. The free time will give him a chance to spend more time where he grew up in Langtry, to make the long trip to visit his daughter and her family in South Africa, and to help with church and community projects.

“I definitely plan to stay involved,” he said.