James Keith Shelton

October 28, 1932-December 11, 2024

James "Keith" Shelton was born October 28, 1932. He was the seventh son of a seventh son, Willis Oscar Shelton, and mother Dosia Agnes Rupert. After a childhood spent during the Great Depression in Oklahoma's Dust Bowl, Keith graduated from Altus High School and earned a Bachelor's degree in English from Midwestern University (Wichita Falls). He married his lifelong love Deborah Evans and served in post war Occupied Frankfurt as a member of the Army Signal Corps.

Following discharge, Keith began a lengthy career as a working journalist and educator. He began as a city hall reporter and political writer for the Wichita Falls Record-News and then the Dallas Times-Herald. In Dallas, Keith covered the assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Jr. as well as the careers of four other Presidents and of Governor John Connally. He served on the Texas Supreme Court Task Force on Judicial Ethics, became President of the Dallas Press Club, and Secretary of the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas, later becoming its Director.

In 1965, Keith was named Editor of the Denton Record-Chronicle. He later served as Managing Editor and then Executive Editor of all three newspapers run by the company. His work with Denton Publishing spanned thirty-five years.

In 1969, Keith began a twenty-three year run as a member of Journalism faculty at the University of North Texas. There he completed his Masters in Journalism, instructed three future Pulitzer prize winners and became the first faculty advisor to the student newspaper. He transitioned to Director of News and Information Services and Journalist in Residence in the 1990s and early 2000s, as he became the sole caregiver of his invalid wife, a polio survivor who is now deceased. On his retirement, friends, faculty and former students honored Keith with a Scholarship in Journalism established in his name.

Keith was a lifelong supporter of the Oklahoma Sooners and Dallas Cowboys, the Democratic Party, First United Methodist Church and Denton Humane Society. He is known for his army of friends and former students and his sparkling wit. He became Chief Resident at Good Samaritan Denton Village, where he spent eleven happy years. The family wishes to thank his many caregivers there and at Three Oaks Hospice, as well as colleague and daily visitor Don Smith and friend Pat Miller for their loving care in Keith's final years.

Memorial services will be held on Friday, December 20 at Mulkey-Bowles-Montgomery  Funeral Home at 705 North Locust St. in Denton. Visitation at 9 a.m. and service at 10 a.m.

Gifts in memory of Keith will be gratefully accepted for the Shelton Scholarship for Journalism at the University of North Texas, and should be sent to:

Director of Advancement, UNT

1155 Union Circle, # 311250

Denton, Texas 76203-5017