Robert Schrepf

Robert Kean Schrepf, a newspaper journalist in Connecticut and Nebraska for more than half a century, died in Lincoln, Nebraska, on April 1, surrounded by his loved ones. He was 83. He was the voice behind many of the best-written editorials at the Hartford Courant in Connecticut. He said he never had a bad day in his 25-year career there. The joie de vivre that made him so cheerful also made him kind, and the people he worked with and wrote about were the grateful beneficiaries of his good nature. He was in love with news up to the end, always watching CNN and reading the New Yorker magazine, Omaha World Herald and Lincoln Journal Star. He could recall precise details of political races in Connecticut, Nebraska and Washington dating back decades. Bob went to work for the Lincoln Star in November 1964, as a clerk on the routines desk booking deaths, births and weather statistics. He soon became a general assignment reporter before taking over the morning daily's City Hall beat. In 1969, Star Editor William O. Dobler asked Bob to write editorials, the newspaper's institutional opinion. He wrote much of The Star's unsigned editorial opinions for the next 13 years. Working at The Star - reporting and, in later years, commenting on events in the town where he grew up - was a joy for Bob. But in 1982, he accepted the invitation of John J. Zakarian to join the editorial board of The Hartford Courant, America's oldest continuously published newspaper, dating to 1764, and one with a Sunday circulation of around 300,000 at its height. Bob thrived in Connecticut within the regional community of journalists he came to know. At The Courant, he was an editorial writer, chief editorial writer, deputy editorial page editor and editorial page editor, succeeding Zakarian. He also was a member of The Courant's executive committee. He belonged to the National Conference of Editorial Writers and was a long-time member of the New England Society of Newspaper Editors. Bob was NESNE's president in 2000. Bob was part of a Courant team of four that won a top national editorial writing award, The Society of Professional Journalists' Sigma Delta Chi Award, for 2012 editorials written in response to the Sandy Hook shooting tragedy. Bob also won the Yankee Quill Award, granted by the Academy of New England Journalists, in 2012. It is considered the highest individual honor awarded to newspaper journalists in the six-state region For all of his 35 years in Connecticut, Bob lived in the North Granby section of the beautiful rural town of Granby, where he was president and long-time secretary of the board of the Salmon Brook Historical Society. He was also devoted to the Hartford Stage and to movie festivals. He especially loved the Provincetown Film Festival, which he attended for many successive summers, becoming longtime friends with many other regular festival goers. He returned to Lincoln to live in retirement in July 2017. Bob was born in Lincoln on Sept. 8, 1938, to Mary Virginia "Happy" (Kean) Schrepf and E. Barney Schrepf, both lifelong Lincoln residents. He is survived by his sisters, Nancy A. Schrepf (Curt Bergstrand) of St. Petersburg, Florida, and Julie C. Schrepf (Cathy Andrews) of Omaha; a niece, Sarah Bergstrand Fischer (Casey Fischer) of Gulfport, Florida, and two grand-nephews, Brendan and Sammy Fischer of Gulfport, and several cousins. Bob, like all Schrepfs, was a champion for pets and a softie when it came to his own: Max, Smiley, Thunder, Kitty, Buddy 1 and Buddy 2. Bob attended Lincoln public schools, graduating from Lincoln High School in the class of 1956. He attended UNL, majoring in political science. He was a member of Phi Delta Theta fraternity. Bob had a wide variety of interests, especially travel - and he saw much of the world, although little pleased him more than an afternoon at Fenway Park or a weekend on Cape Cod or the annual "Nebraska Boys' Night Out" with friends at Yankee Stadium. Always sociable, Bob enjoyed being part of the Resident Committee at the Legacy in Lincoln, and he relished his drinks with Legacy friends every Wednesday. He also treasured his Thursday coffee group with witty Lincoln buddies. He was a devoted Husker fanatic. He had a lifelong love of Nebraska's quiet beauty and the grandeur of the Rocky Mountains, which he experienced up close most of the summers of his youth as a camper and counselor at Cheley Colorado Camps. What mattered most to Bob in life were the people he loved. He made friends wherever he went, and he never tired of their company. A two-hour dinner was too short for Bob. If Bob knew you, then all of his other friends will have heard of you. He held his loved ones in his heart till the very last. He will be remembered fondly and missed beyond measure. Honorary pall bearers: Jim Cole, Nick DiSalvatore, Don Walton, Don Wesely, Dr. Chuck Wilson. Memorials suggested to American Civil Liberties Union, Nebraska or Connecticut chapters; favorite animal welfare charity; University of Nebraska Foundation; Westminster Presbyterian Church, Lincoln. Friends and relatives are invited to a celebration of life gathering between 4–6 p.m. on Thursday, April 7, and a memorial service at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, April 8. Both will be held at Roper and Sons, Midtown Chapel, 4300 O. Street, Lincoln, NE 68510. Please find the link to a livestream of Friday's service, as well as a place to leave an online message commemorating Bob, at www.roperandsons.com, under Obituaries.