Melba Livermore, Oklahoma newspaper family matriarch, dies at 93
BY TIM STANLEY World Staff Writer
Saturday, January 19, 2013
1/19/13 at 5:49 AM
Melba Livermore, a member of a longtime Oklahoma newspaper family who with her husband once owned newspapers in Sapulpa, Claremore and Edmond, died Thursday in Tulsa.
She was 93.
A memorial service is set for 11 a.m. Monday at First United Methodist Church in Sapulpa. Smith Funeral Home of Sapulpa is handling arrangements.
At one time, Livermore and her husband, Ed Livermore Sr., a former Oklahoma Press Association president, owned the Sapulpa Daily Herald, Claremore Daily Progress and The Edmond Sun.
Their son, Ed Livermore Jr., worked at the family papers, later becoming editor and publisher of The Edmond Sun.
Although born in Oklahoma, where her grandparents had arrived in a covered wagon as pioneers, Melba Livermore spent much of her childhood in towns along the Mississippi River, where her father worked in construction.
She graduated from Norman High School in 1936.
She met her future husband, Ed Livermore, at the University of Oklahoma, where they both graduated with advertising degrees in 1940.
They married in Norman the next year.
After he returned from World War II service, the couple moved to Claremore and became publishers of the Claremore Daily Progress.
In 1959, they acquired the Sapulpa Daily Herald and moved to Sapulpa.
Over the next several years, the Livermores acquired interests in newspapers in Edmond, Guthrie, Pauls Valley and Catoosa, as well as in Texas and Arkansas, while also donating money to help establish OU's Engleman/Livermore journalism professorship.
Melba Livermore was a 50-year member of First United Methodist Church of Sapulpa, as well as PEO and Gamma Phi Beta sorority.
Her survivors include her husband of 71 years, Ed Livermore; three children, Ed Livermore Jr., Sarah Spencer and Mary Bush; and four grandchildren.
Original Print Headline: Newspaper family matriarch dies at 93
Tim Stanley 918-581-8385
tim.stanley@tulsaworld.com
Associated Images:
Melba Livermore: At one time, Livermore and her husband, Ed Livermore Sr., a former Oklahoma Press Association president, owned the Sapulpa Daily Herald, Claremore Daily Progress and The Edmond Sun. Together, they acquired interests in newspapers in Edmond, Guthrie, Pauls Valley and Catoosa, as well as in Texas and Arkansas
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