McCrary remembered for her wit, service to Luling and rock steady journalistic voice

Luling lost one of its most tireless volunteers, a champion for local civic improvements, and a dedicated yet selfless newswoman last week when she passed away peacefully at her home on Wednesday, June 14.

Karen McCrary, longtime writer, photographer, and former editor and publisher at the Luling Newsboy, would have celebrated her 70th birthday on Saturday, July 1. She leaves behind her four younger siblings, nine nieces, three nephews, and scores more family members and friends.

While her many decades of dedicated community service and willingness to help almost anyone is what many say they remember most about her, those who knew her best say it was Karen’s razor wit which stood out most.

It’s why we’re almost certain that Karen’s having the last laugh, even now. You see, rather than a birthday party next Saturday, July 1, friends and family are asked to gather from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Zedler Mill in Luling to celebrate the remarkable life she led.

That way she had you coming or going, she would’ve no doubt quipped.

• • •

Karen’s pointed humor was already well recognized before she crossed the stage at graduation as a member of the Luling Class of 1971. In addition to getting chosen for the school’s basketball and volleyball teams, the pep squad, yearbook and student council, she was also picked the wittiest of her class. For three years running, in fact.

It was something even her nieces commented on while crafting the words to her obituary, which appears on Page 3A of today’s newspaper.

“Perhaps her most cherished role was that of aunt,” they wrote. “Although Karen never had any children of her own, she loved and spoiled her nieces and nephews as if they were hers. Times were never more fun than when Aunt Karen was around, and she was always happy to train those little people in the skill of sarcasm and wit.”

That, combined with her love of reading and writing made her a natural for the news business, and by most accounts, the Luling Newsboy is straight where she headed, right out of high school.

Buddy Preuss, owner of the newspaper and the man who hired Karen to her post, had a slightly different recollection.

Although Karen cut her teeth working at the Newsboy, she left the newspaper sometime during the mid-1970s to go work as a legal assistant at a law firm. Preuss said it took a number of years before he convinced her to return to her real love, the Newsboy. When she finally made that move in 1979, however, he soon learned another fact about her as well.

“Karen was one of the most loyal employees at any of our newspapers,” he said. “She offered that same loyalty to the Watermelon Thump and the entire city of Luling. She never complained, no matter how tough the going would get, and I never had to worry about anything at the Newsboy as long as Karen was at the helm. I will dearly miss her.”

Hindsight being 20/20, Buddy’s son, Sam Preuss, noted that she probably would have been much better off, financially, had she stayed on with the law firm. Of course, that wouldn’t have been half as fun, Karen would have no doubt argued, but of course, it would have made this story a fine lot shorter, too. 

Trey Bailey may be the executive director of the Luling Economic Development Corp. today, but he still remembers well his time spent with Karen over at the news office. His parents, you see, owned the place before Preuss bought it from them in the 1970s.

After he graduated and spent some time away in East Texas, Bailey said he was more than happy to return to the familiarity of the news office, a place he’d grown up around. Having Karen there just made it all the better.

“I learned much from her and had great fun working long late hours with her, putting out the weekly Newsboy,” he said. “She was exceptional at her job, objective in her reporting and opinionated in her editorials. Karen never skipped a beat, keeping the tradition of objective and reliable journalism done with community pride.”

Still, her sense of humor never strayed far, Bailey added.

He recalled a fine athlete named Willis Mackey, who attended school in Luling in the mid-1980s. Mackey, it seemed, had bounced back and forth with recruiters before finally signing on with the University of Washington. But not before he switched his commitment between schools, a few times already, so Karen decided to write about it.

All these years later, Bailey said he still remembers the headline she wrote: “Willie go or Willie stay?”

Another time, in the wee hours of some random press day, Bailey said he remembered Karen opting to fill an open spot on the classifieds page with: “Meeting of all interested people at 7 p.m.”

Which only begs for a follow-up, of course, Bailey said. So, the next week, Karen wrote: “Due to a lack of interest, meeting was canceled.”

• • •

Karen worked at the Newsboy until her retirement in 2018. Even then, she continued to supply the occasional news story or photograph for publication, whenever she was out and about.

Which must have been right next to always, as best we can tell, for she volunteered with everyone in town: The Chamber of Commerce, Watermelon Thump Association, Kiwanis Club, Luling Stock Show Committee, Luling Oil Museum, Zedler Mill Foundation, Night in Old Luling, Luling Main Street, and the Church of the Annunciation, to name a few.

“We served on several boards together, and I can tell you she always had her community at heart,” Luling Mayor CJ Watts said. “Karen was always there to volunteer any way she could. She was a true asset to our community in so many ways. She was always there to ask questions and give you her opinion, whether that was the answer you wanted to hear or not.”

When Watts joined the city council and, later, became mayor, she said she came to expect seeing Karen, “out there in the audience in her chair,” busily taking her notes.

Luling school district superintendent Erin Warren agreed.

“Karen was a voice of reason and a steadfast presence in school board meetings,” Warren said. “Her just being there was both reassuring and comforting. She frequently kept our board members on their toes, and she had no problem correcting any inaccuracies that happened. Plus, she did an amazing job of being pleasant and no nonsense at the same time. I will miss her greatly.”

In addition to those other roles, Karen even served as a firefighter with the Luling Volunteer Fire Department. And not just some administrative or clerical role, either. While visiting City Hall not long ago, awaiting the arrival of city manager Mark Mayo, this writer happened into a conversation with a Luling man who brought up that very subject.

“It wasn’t that long ago we had a grass fire out near our place that was getting dangerously close to our house and outbuildings, so I called the fire department, you know,” he said. “Then I stayed there with it to keep an eye on things and await their arrival. A few minutes later, and here they come. I turned to wave them through. And who do I see hanging on the back of the firetruck, just waving right back? It’s Karen. I couldn’t believe it.”

When asked about it, about an hour after that conversation, not only did Karen figure out who it was we talked to, but she simply shrugged and said, “Yeah, it’s what I do.” It seems her father was once an active fireman, too, she told us then. She was just keeping the family tradition alive and well.

Such sights were hardly uncommon with Karen, said Kirby Crowell with the Luling Fire Department.

“Karen was an active member of our volunteer fire department,” Crowell said. “She eagerly responded to every call, and she was always willing to ride out to a fire. We’d pull up, and she would say ‘Let’s put some water on it.’ "

Her being both reporter and firefighter is how Luling ISD board president Jeff Ferry, a detective with the Caldwell County Sheriff’s Office, said he first came to know Karen. Ferry would later serve on volunteer boards alongside Karen, and like his superintendent, he said he came to expect Karen at their school board meetings.

But their first encounter was a whole other matter entirely, Ferry recalled.

“I actually met Karen my first day of work as a cop, 20 years ago,” he said, and it was anything but pleasant.

It seems that several runners from a cross country team had stopped on the shoulder of the road to pray during a run. It’s about 7 a.m. and this old timer happens along. Never seeing them, he ran the kids over, killing one and injuring several more. Then, here comes Karen, the firefighting newspaper editor.

“She got very upset with me that I wouldn’t let her in,” Ferry said. “I’d been told, ‘Don’t let anyone on the scene,’ however, and by God, she was anyone.”

He chuckled then, but soon quieted, adding, “We may have had plenty of run-ins over the years, but I'm going to miss her dearly.”

• • •

When the city council met June 8 and Karen wasn’t there to cover it, Mayor Watts said she figured Karen finally had gotten around to putting down her pen and paper, something she’d been saying she’d do for years already.

Karen was still backing away slowly, it turns out, right up to the very end, assisting some of our newer staff learn the ropes. In fact, she still turned in stories as late as last week, even though she’d be gone before anyone ever got to read them. And because she adamantly refused to allow her byline in print, much of what she wrote in her final months here went unrecognized as hers.

Still, her absence earlier this month at the city council meeting, was definitely noticed by Mayor Watts and the rest of the city’s aldermen.

“It was my first feeling of missing her at the city meetings,” Watts said. “Little did I know that it would only be a few weeks later that I wouldn’t see her smiling face again.”

City Manager Mark Mayo was equally shocked.

“Karen was such a wonderful servant to our community,” he said. “You saw her helping in the background at every event. I will miss seeing her at every council meeting. I will miss seeing her out picking up trash in the mornings out at the information center. I'll miss seeing her put on her rubber boots to go on a fire call. I’ll just miss her. She was a very special lady, and she will be missed.”

Karen was also a fixture in commissioners court meetings for many years. “She was devoted to her community and was well respected by those of us who were lucky enough to know her,” County Judge Hoppy Haden said. “She will be missed.”

Karen truly left her mark on Luling, not only its journalistic voice as a keen and informed observer but as a leader and champion for the city. She used the power of her pen, and when that fell short, she relied on good old-fashioned elbow grease to get the job done, for more than half a century.

She did it all for the community she loved, and all without expectation of praise of any sort.

Because it simply needed to be done, she would have no doubt said. Then that spark would flicker in her eyes, and she’d probably toss out something like she got tired of waiting on you to do it, a big smile spread across her lips.

Because that’s how she was, too. And we loved her for it.

Mayor Watts said it best: “Karen was a friend to many and I considered her a special friend of mine. I know we’ll miss her greatly, both myself and the community, but I know we’ll see her again one day. Until then, we know she’ll be watching over us.”

—30—