A newspaperman makes a few enemies in his life, especially if he dedicates much of his career to insisting on good government in his community.

Fred Latcham made his share of enemies in the more than half century he ran the newspaper in Beeville.

But the number of people who remember him as a fair, honest man who loved his adopted home, his family and business and who did everything he could to make his community a better place to live far outnumber those who thought of him otherwise.

Fred died Tuesday at age 91. Those with fond memories of the longtime publisher, loving father and husband and civic leader paid their last respects between 7 and 9 p.m. Friday, Feb. 13, at Galloway & Sons Funeral Home in Beeville. The funeral is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 14, at First United Methodist Church in Beeville.

Fred began his career at the Beeville Bee-Picayune in 1953 after marrying the daughter of then-Publisher George Atkins. Together he and Joyce Atkins Latcham put in long hours to make the “Bee-Pic” one of the best community newspapers in Texas. The number of awards on the wall in the editorial offices of the newspaper provides proof of just how well-regarded the Bee-Picayune has been in the Texas publishing industry.

“My family moved to Beeville in 1953, right after my father graduated from law school,” said City Manager Ford Patton. “I remember him from my earliest days.”

“Fred and the entire Latcham family were highly regarded. Fred was one of those persons I remember always being brought up in a very complimentary way.”

“When I first came to City Hall in 1970, we would work together on many projects,” said former city manager and Bee Development Authority Executive Director Joe B. Montez.

“I appreciate the work he did. When he wrote about a project, he always brought out the good things about it. We were longtime friends,” Montez added.

“I’ve known him about 50 years,” said retired banker Clyde Lacy.

The two men worked together on numerous projects related to their membership in the Bee County Chamber of Commerce and First United Methodist Church.

He said one of the greatest things Fred ever did for Beeville was to become one of the founders and organizers of what is now Coastal Bend College. Lacy said Fred already was involved in the college project when he got to Beeville.

“Fred was a great guy and a lot of fun to be around. He was always in good humor,” Lacy said.

Bee County Judge David Silva said Fred’s foresight touched the lives of countless Bee County citizens over the past 40 years.

“When I graduated high school in 1963, I had to travel all the way to Corpus Christi to attend college,” he recalled. “We didn’t have a community college in Bee County at that time, but when I returned from the Air Force in 1973, I was able to finish my college in Beeville because Mr. Latcham saw the need and used his considerable influence to bring a community college to Bee County.”

Later, after earning his degree at what was once Texas A&I University in Corpus Christi, Silva took a job teaching history at Bee County College.

He retired there after 27 years.

“No telling how many local students have been able to continue their education after high school all because we had a community college here in Bee County,” Silva said. “And think about the number of jobs the college created since its founding.”

Local attorney and former County Judge Kinkler Handly said he remembers Fred for his fairness.

“I first met Fred Latcham when I came to Beeville to practice law in the early 1970s,” Handly said.

“He was a good supporter of mine when I was county judge.”

Handly said Fred always allowed opposing views on issues to be aired on the editorial and letters to the editor pages of the paper.

“That’s a very important function of a newspaper and the Latcham family has done that job in a superlative way,” Handly said.

He stressed that in a small town the newspaper is the primary form of communication among the people.

“If you read the Bee-Pic, you knew what was going on in your community,” Handly said.

“I’ve know him my whole life,” said Mayor Kenneth Chesshir, “and no matter how big I got, he always seemed bigger than life to me.”

In later years, Chesshir said he had many conversations with Fred and he remembers those times well.

“He was always one of those people who you thought would always be there, who would never die. He did die and that’ll leave a hole in this community that’ll be hard to fill.”

“He had a tough job and he always walked on the fair side,” Chesshir said.

The mayor remembers when Fred would come into his barbershop for a haircut. “I always enjoyed it when we had a long line because of the conversations we’d have while he waited.”

“Fred and Joyce were always very supportive of the community,” said former Mayor John Galloway.

“They did a lot to move this community forward.” Like others in Beeville, Galloway said one of Fred’s greatest achievements was the development of what started out as Bee County College.

“He was always a gentleman,” Galloway said.

During Galloway’s time as mayor, he said Fred was always cordial and supportive.

“Yes,” Galloway said when asked if he found Fred to be a fair newspaper publisher. “Very fair.”

Precinct 2 Commissioner Susan Stasny echoed the remark — even though Fred once supported her political opponent.

Once, when Susan won her first term of office and her husband was named to the board of directors of Commercial National Bank in Beeville, Fred wrote an editorial for the newspaper that exclaimed the community got two good public servants for the price of one.

“I always appreciated his kind words and I remembered that statement when I read his obituary in the newspaper on Wednesday night,” Stasny said.