Born as Kathleen Clifton Johnson in Lone Wolf, Okla., she earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education at Southwestern Oklahoma State University and taught briefly at the community of Retrop, Okla. In 1942 she married Reavis, who at the time was a lieutenant in the Army Air Corps.
After the conclusion of World War II the couple and their first-born son moved to Coleman, Texas, where Dick Reavis soon became a partner in the Democrat-Voice. Business developments subsequently led them to a half-dozen other Texas towns until 1964, when the family, now including two younger sons, came to Dumas to purchase the Moore County Daily News and North Plains Press. The two newspapers were combined as the Moore County News-Press and remained in family hands until 1983.
Kathleen, known to friends as “Kate” and Katy,” was a crafty bridge partner and a member of the First Baptist Church of Dumas.
She is survived by sons Dick J. Reavis of Dallas, Joe Reavis of Allen, Texas, and Gillis Reavis of Seattle, Wash., and by two grandsons, Brady and Hank.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be sent to the Alzheimer’s Association, Greater Dallas Chapter, 3001 Knox St., Suite 200, Dallas, TX 75205.
