Joella Lovvorn, a woman who lived by her faith, remembered

Joella will be greatly missed by ALL who came in contact with her. The Lamb County Leader-News sends our condolences to the family.

(The story below was written by Joe Gonzales, former Assistant News Editor and Sports Editor of the Lamb County Leader-News)

For the past 53 years, (since July, 1967) the Lamb County Leader-News has had one constant, while reporting the news to the surrounding area — it’s news editor, Joella Lovvorn.

Joella celebrated her 86th birthday (March 20, 2020) and has reflected many times, on her career at the newspaper that started back in July of 1967.

As news editor at the Leader-News, Joella has worked for nine different publishers who have owned and operated Littlefield’s newspaper, with the most recent being Brett Wesner, owner and operator of San Saba Publishing.

Wesner purchased the newspaper from Stephen and Pat Henry in September of 2013. The Henrys had owned the paper since 1993.

An excerpt from an article that ran in Sunday’s issue of the County Wide News, on July 23, 1967, introduced Joella to all its readers.

“New woman’s editor for the Leader- News, Miss Joella Lovvorn, is an experienced newswoman who can do every process required to produce a newspaper edition — from going out and getting the story, to preparing the paper for mailing or delivery to the customer.”

“And this includes the photography department. Joella can take the picture, develop the film and size and print the finished photo.”

That was quite different from the way photos are handled these days as digitals, with no chemicals necessary to process them.

Joella’s first steps towards her illustrious journalism career began in 1953, in the print shop at Wayland Baptist College.

“I learned the printing end of the business there,” she said, as she worked for her room and board. “I understood how things worked when I started for the Plainview Daily Herald back in 1957 for my first newspaper job.”

She was the church news editor and proof reader. She also was a ticker-tape puncher while correcting metal type on the Linotype machine for the daily issues.

Joella continued her career there until the owner of the Plainview Herald, who also owned the Muleshoe Journal, sent her to the next stop in her career. He knew she knew how to run a printing press, so he sent her to Muleshoe in 1962.

While at the Muleshoe Journals, she also handled photography, setting copy, proof reading, and other duties needed for those two newspapers.

Joella was there until 1964 when she moved to Phoenix, Arizona, to work as the assistant editor for the Southern Baptist Convention’s “Baptist Beacon” newspaper.

“I had a hard time making a living out there, so I moved back to the Plainview Daily Herald in July ’65,” she said.

She would stay there until she took the job at the Lamb County Leader and the County Wide News in July of 1967 and the rest is history.

“A woman who I had worked with at the Herald had come to Littlefield as it’s news editor,” said Joella. “She said they needed a society editor, so she called me and wanted to know if I wanted to come to Littlefield. So I made the move.”

After a few months, the news editor left, and another had come and gone, she took the news editor spot and 53 years later, the job was still hers.

When asked what’s kept her in Littlefield and at the Leader-News Littlefield and at the Leader-News for so long, Joella said, “I’m tired of moving!”

Growing up she said her family moved about every two years (sometimes more often) and they lived all over the South Plains. Her father was a share cropper farmer so they moved when his work was done at several farms.

But, Joella says what’s kept her in Littlefield is that she loves what she does. “It’s interesting work. It’s not boring, and I get to work all over the county to cover all kinds of different celebrations and events in the communities,” she said.

She’s had the chance to meet a lot of people and still sees many of them today.

One memory that has stuck out for her was the time she shook Waylon Jennings’ hand. She also saw him place his boot prints into cement at the Waylon Jennings RV Park, which is now part of his memorial.

On the day in May of 1969 when she graduated from Wayland Baptist College, she shook hands with Jimmy Dean (famous for his sausage) when his business had open house in Plainview She also met President Johnson on his Texas ranch, while she attended a Texas Press Association Convention. There, she took a picture of her mother with President Johnson.

She sat at the same table with Texas Governor Ann Richards, one year at an Amherst Chamber of Commerce Banquet, and has met many other state officials, while they were campaigning to be elected.

She saw State Rep. Bill Clayton of Springlake re-instated in Austin after being re-elected.

More recently, she met Rep. Jodey Arrington while he was in Littlefield.

These and many other events she’s had the chance to cover, are what keeps her in this field, which is changing daily with computers, social media, and other advances. But, Joella says the most important advice she has for anyone looking to make a career in journalism — just love what you are doing.

You need to be interested in what other people are doing, and try and help them get their ideas across to the public,” she said.

She added, “I always look to getting here every day. I love the people and what I do. There have been some times where that was hard to do, especially if I wasn’Jt feeling too well, but I came to work.”

Some of those times she is talking about is when she was diagnosed with Non Hodgkins Lymphoma in late 2006. Joella fought and won that chemo battle against cancer in 2007.

“Earlier, in 1960, I was diagnosed as being anemic, but Lymphoma was something I thought I’d never hear, and it about knocked me off my feet!,” she said.

But with her faith, Joella proclaims that “God did it”, and “He is my healer!” who has brought me through them.

“Jesus provided that for me a long time ago while He hung on the cross,” she said. “When He said ‘it’s finished’, He meant that was for me, and everyone else that accepts it.”

When asked to recall one of her fondest memories at the newspaper, Joella said it was when the Littlefield Chamber of Commerce honored her as the ‘Woman of the Year’ in 1988.

“Also, when I was honored in the Rotary Club with the Special Service Above Self award from the District Governor, and when I received the two Rotary Paul Harris Fellow Awards.

On July 7, 2016, she was presented the “Community Builder Award” from the Litttlefield Masonic Lodge 1161, A.F. & A.M.

Among the more prestigious awards was the “Excellence in Agricultural Journalism for markets of less than 50,000,” presented by the Farm Bureau at their Dec. 3-5, 2011 Corpus Christi Convention.

“That was something I had never thought about receiving,” said Joella. “Two others received awards as well—one was for television and the other for a magazine.”

Through all this, she knows some have wondered when she is going to set down her camera, put away her pen and paper, and turn off her computer.

“I plan to keep going as long as I can,” she said.”