Judy Hopson waves goodbye and -30- to a career that started in 1965 at the Tyler Morning Telegraph.

I walked into the newsroom on Thursday after lunch and was greeted by an amazing surprise.

The smell of spring.

Usually, it’s the smell of takeout and smoke coming off the keyboards as reporters are frantically typing up copy for the website and the paper the next morning.

This time, it was fresh-cut flowers. As I closed my eyes and smelled the roses, I quickly exhaled and let out a sad sigh.

I realized it was the last day Judy Hopson was working for us at the Tyler Morning Telegraph.

On my first day at work, I had a meet-and-greet with the staff. The first person I recognized was Phil Hicks. Legend. A columnist with an opinion on national, college and local sports, always with a slight edge toward Texas, but also always fair with opinion backed up by facts.

I knew Phil had been at the paper since 1983, but I had only got to “know” him through his columns online the past 20 years or so. I expected a hard-nosed sports writer, instead, I met a polite gentleman who genuinely enjoys covering so many sports for the kids and somehow finds time to make sure he has his family covered.

Then I met Judy Hopson. As soon as I heard she was the part-time newsroom clerk, I knew one thing for certain: She was the glue that held the newsroom together.

And man was I right.

In three days, she could handle all calls, emails, complaints, letters to the editors, business briefs, social briefs, oil and gas reports and so much more. She handled orders for specialty items and even decided it was time to learn to write up the police blotter.

Her career started in 1965 at the newspaper. In 2020, she took on the police blotter.

But back to 1965. Judy told me she started, but had to work on the third floor and the newsroom was on the second floor. She was taking a typed or hand-written article and setting it up on the linotype machine and would send a tube down a chute to the press.

She was on the third floor because she wasn’t union and management knew they needed her. Eventually, the union didn’t mind because they asked her to start doing obituaries.

She remembers the three punches for the letter M, two for N and one for O. It’s fascinating to listen to her stories of getting a story to her and to the type-setters on the press. Today, we can publish to the internet in seconds.

In 1982, Judy left to work for Dairy Queen. And not just work. When there was an underperforming store, Judy was moved. She went from Van to Chandler to Lindale to Tyler and more points between.

On June 4, 2010, she came back to the newspaper. Maybe she realized our scoops were harder to get and more rewarding!

After 56 years, almost an even split, Judy has decided she wants to spend a little more time with her family and friends from church instead of her friends in the police reports!

Judy was not an editor or a publisher. But she knew how to run a newspaper. She knew people. I learned so much from her about the great people in East Texas, the values and the content they want.

She was a daily reminder to be fair and balanced. Her last few months we added new reporters. She earned their respect on Day One.

Judy was actually offered a job to manage a restaurant in the area full-time. She politely turned it down. But it just shows how much respect she earned in that industry, too.

Monday won’t be the same in the office. No Judy, no flowers. I’ll probably type up some police reports and hope we can carry on her legacy another 56 years.

John Anderson can be reached at janderson@tyler paper.com.