Robert Hancock Breeden

Robert Hancock Breeden, 97, of Russellville, Arkansas, formerly of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, died Saturday, March 25, 2006 at St. Mary's Regional Medical Center in Russellville. The son of Roscoe and Zula Hancock Breeden, he was born May 20, 1908 in Vicksburg, Mississippi. The family moved to a farm near Haskell, Oklahoma in 1909. He was a 1924 graduate of Valliant High School in Valliant, Oklahoma. He received his Bachelor of Arts in journalism from the University of Oklahoma in 1929.

Bob was editor and co-publisher from 1931 until 1962 of The Cleveland American, a weekly newspaper in Cleveland. While in Cleveland, Bob was instrumental in founding the public library, the rural electrification administration and also Pioneer Days. Bob purchased several newspapers in the Arkansas River Valley including the Paris, Express and Progress, the Charleston Express and the Greenwood Democrat. He served as director of the Oklahoma Press Association. In the 1940's he and his partner, John Guion of Paris, Arkansas purchased the Weekly Tribune in Russellville and then purchased the Courier-Democrat in 1955. Bob and his partners sold the Courier Democrat in 1977 to Harte-Hanks Newspapers. He and partners Ron and Nancy Kemp purchased five weekly papers in the Northeast Arkansas area including Rector's Clay County Democrat, the Piggott Times, Manila's Northeast Arkansas Town Crier and the Campbell Courier in Campbell, Missouri and also in Senath, Missouri.

He was elected to the Oklahoma State Senate in 1956 representing Pawnee and Noble Counties. As a Republican he was the minority leader in the Oklahoma State Senate for two terms. Bob was very active in Oklahoma politics and managed Henry Louis Bellmon's successful campaign as Oklahoma's first Republican Governor. In 1962 he resigned from the State Senate and moved to Vinita, Oklahoma as the Director of the Grand River Development Authority. He served as Director of the Oklahoma Industrial Development and Parts Department from 1962 until 1967. He was Director for Oklahoma's Office of Housing and Urban Development for ten years.

Following his retirement, he moved to Russellville, Arkansas in 1978. Bob was a member of the Russellville Noon Rotary Club and was a Paul Harris Fellow. He continued to be interested in Republican politics.

He was a member of the United Methodist Church in Cleveland, Oklahoma and was also a member of the All Saints' Episcopal Church in Russellville. He was preceded in death by his wife Marion Martha Miller Breeden, his parents, a brother, J. W. Bill Breeden and an infant son, Bradley Donald Breeden.

He is survived by two daughters and two sons-in-law, Carolyn McLellan and husband, George of Russellville, Nancy Vaughn and husband, Robert of Bethesda, Md.; six grandchildren, Matthew B. McLellan, Fort Smith, Michael E. McLellan, Fayetteville, Aaron R. McLellan, Washington D.C., Amanda J. Vaughn, New York, NY, Abigail J. Vaughn, Brooklyn NY, Carolyn E. Vaughn, Bethesda, MD; three great-grandchildren, Kaersti McLellan, Fort Smith, Andrew McLellan, Fort Smith and Mattie Suzannah McLellan of Fort Smith.

Visitation will be 7:30 - 8:30 pm, Thursday, March 30, 2006 at Humphrey Funeral Home in Russellville. Funeral service will be at 3 pm, Friday, March 31, 2006 at All Saints' Episcopal Church in Russellville. The body will also be in state at Chapman-Black Funeral Home in Cleveland, Oklahoma on Saturday, April, 1, 2006 from 8:00 am until 11:30 am. Graveside services will be held at 1:00 pm, Saturday at the Woodland Cemetery in Cleveland. Rev. Evelyn Hornaday will officiate at both services. Memorials may be made to the Oklahoma Newspaper Foundation's Bob and Marion Breeden Oklahoma University Journalism Student Aid Fund, Attn. Mark Thomas, Executive Director, 3601 North Lincoln Blvd, Oklahoma City, OK 73105, or email address is mthomas@okpress.com.

Visit an online obituary and guestbook for Robert Breeden at www.chapman-black.com and Legacy.com.