William Kent Coulter

WILLIAM KENT (BILL) COULTER, a longtime Houston newsman, died Friday. He was 71.Bill was born July 8, 1939, in Jacksonville, Texas. He attended Sul Ross University in Alpine and the University of Houston.After college, he worked on a dude ranch in New Mexico and traveled to meet interesting people for stories he wanted to write. He got the chance to write full time when he joined the Houston Post in 1965 and was assigned to cover the police beat. It was a tumultuous time in Houston, which was coming to grips with the civil rights movement and allegations of police brutality. It also was the height of the newspaper competition between the morning Post and afternoon Houston Chronicle.During his years at the Post, he was a familiar figure in the press rooms of the Houston Police Department and Harris County court houses. He helped cover NASA during the early space missions and later participated in the coverage of several presidential campaigns.In 1986 he joined the Houston Chronicle as a general assignments reporter. He was named to the Chronicle's Editorial Board in 1991. Bill received an award from the Houston Press Club for editorial writing in 1995 and was honored by the Texas Associated Press Managing Editors' organization for editorial writing in 1997.As a member of the Editorial Board, he wrote a column that gave him a venue to express his political views. Bill was a conservative at heart, but when he covered the news, he was the quintessential objective reporter, getting the facts and usually getting the story first. He was kind, quiet and unassuming and had an uncanny ability to find and maintain sources.Bill served in the Air Force Reserve from 1961 to 1967 and was a member of the Houston Heights Association.He is survived by his wife, Catherine Elizabeth Coulter of Houston; a sister, Bette Harris of Columbia, Mo.; a niece, Anne Stanton of Columbia, Mo.; a sister-in-law, Martha Mackenzie; nephews Donald and David Mackenzie; and numerous great nieces and nephews. Service will be held 2:00 p.m. Thursday, August 26, 2010 at Forest Park Lawndale Funeral Home Main Chapel. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Our Lady of Walsingham Catholic Church in Houston or Greyhound Pets of America in Houston.