John Reed Gravois

Gravois — “Grav” to his many friends — practically had newsprint running through his veins. He won his first newspaper award in the late 1970s — 1st place in the Louisiana Press Association contest for a photo of a dejected Houma high school (Vandebilt Catholic) baseball catcher, surrounded by members of the winning team, jumping for joy.

More recently, the Dallas Morning News politics team he led won National Headliners awards for its coverage, two years in a row, and he was one of the editors of the Chronicle’s team coverage of Hurricane Harvey, which became a finalist for a 2018 Pulitzer Prize. “John was a reporter's editor. I never recall him having to crack the whip,” recalled former Fort Worth Star-Telegram reporter John Moritz, who reported to Gravois, then government affairs editor, from the paper’s Austin bureau. “His news judgment was unmatched, and therefore unquestioned.”

Though Gravois’ career propelled him to top reporting gigs at Houston City Hall, the Texas State Capitol and eventually Congress and the White House, it all began in a far less auspicious setting: a 6th grade classroom at Legion Park Elementary in his hometown of Houma, Louisiana.

His English teacher, Gary Phillips, got permission to start a school newspaper and asked Gravois to be the editor. He didn’t hesitate, and soon the pre-teen was chronicling sporting events and the school lunch menu — which often included home state favorites like jambalaya and red beans and rice — with the zeal he would later exhibit when landing big political scoops in Washington.

“As humble as it was, I relished each and every issue of ‘Legion Legends’ and got a charge out of seeing my name in print, even if it was just in blue mimeograph type,” he would later recall.

Born Oct. 20, 1958 in Lafayette, son of Wanda Joy Reed of Iota, and Lloyd Joseph Gravois of Port Allen, John Reed Gravois moved from Crowley to Houma in Terrebonne Parish in the 1960s. He graduated from Terrebonne High School in 1976; Nicholls State University in 1980; and the Missouri School of Journalism in 1981.

The swampy Gulf Coast town known for its Creole culture, moss-covered bayous and old sugar plantations would always be home for Gravois. He grabbed hold of his Southern Louisiana roots like a treasure chest — from the spicy food and Mardi Gras celebrations to the region’s corruption-prone politics and flashy sports figures.

Gravois loved both baseball and football with a passion, especially LSU sports and the New Orleans Saints, and it is what led him to the newspaper business. While still in high school, editors at the Houma Courier took note of his expert sports coverage and play-by-play notes for the Terrebonne High School paper, where he soon landed a gig.

In a 1980 column for the paper, Gravois wrote about getting all nervous and tongue-tied when he met his childhood hero Reggie Jackson, the Yankee slugger and 5-time World Series champion.Yet he still elicited a surprisingly insightful comment from Jackson about never getting “cocky” when a pitcher like Baltimore Orioles legend Jim Palmer was on the mound.

Gravois’ twin professional loves — sports and politics — sometimes competed for his attention, and almost cost him his newspaper career. Earlier in his tenure at the Houston Post, Gravois got caught moonlighting as a sports agent (his claim to fame: signing Houma alum Greg Harding to the New Orleans Saints). City editor John Boudreaux, who hired Gravois and put him on the path for politics, told him he had to decide if he wanted to be a politics reporter or sports agent. “‘You choose. You can’t do both,’” Gravois recalled Boudreaux telling him. “I chose journalism.”

During his time at the Houston Post, where he worked from 1981 to 1995, Gravois was “a straight-down-the-line journalist,” recalled his former colleague Ken Herman. “He cared about the craft and he cared about doing it the right way.”

He started on the “night cops” beat, covering police and crime and, as he later told his fellow reporter Gardner Selby, “learning the plight of people in poor communities” and the delivery of services, or lack thereof, in Texas.

He was quickly promoted to City Hall and then the Austin bureau, where he marveled at the often raucous Texas Legislature.

“The ranks of Texas politics in the ‘80s and ‘90s were full of virtual quote machines, with flamboyant characters spewing homespun gems that colorfully helped bring our stories to life,” Gravois recalled later. “The easiest way to strike gold was to catch (former Lt. Governor) Bob Bullock when he was in a good mood.”

As a political journalist, he was on hand for lots of Texas political history, whether performed on the big stage or in smaller settings — such as one particular West Texas campfire.

During the 1990 gubernatorial campaign, a slugfest between Democrat Ann Richards and Republican Clayton Williams, a couple of ever-quotable combatants, Gravois was among a small handful of reporters invited by Williams for an outing at his West Texas ranch. In 2020, when Williams died, Gravois recalled that the Texas oilman “reveled in the adventure, getting journalists far from their comfort zone, making us hop awkwardly on horses for a classic roundup.”

Gravois was promoted to the Washington bureau after only two years in Austin. He was at the White House the night President George H.W. Bush launched military operations during the first Gulf War, covered the signing of a nuclear treaty in the Kremlin in Moscow, and traveled with President Bill Clinton on a 1,000 mile bus tour to kick off his 1992 campaign. He was selected many times for pool duty and covered Christmas shopping at

Union Station with Clinton and the secret service. There were several fun times attending White House Correspondents’ Association dinners, President George W. Bush’s inauguration, and Black Tie and Boots.

Finally, in 1994, John handed in his reporting notebook for an editor’s pen — sometimes just a scalpel — and went on to direct other legions of reporters at the Fort Worth StarTelegram, Houston Chronicle and Dallas Morning News. While he wasn’t covering the news

John kept himself busy writing “A Cajun Family Cookbook” and “Speak Cajun in 30 Minutes or Less.”

Gravois enjoyed supporting young journalists by serving as a mentor in the Report for America program. He supported projects and financially sponsored an award for the Mass Communication department at Nicholls State University.

For all his obsessions about colorful athletes and flawed politicians, John loved his family more than any story he ever wrote, any game he ever covered, any confidential tip he ever received. Raising a family while working in bureaus and on late-night assignments was always a challenge but he included his family in all that he did, and often brought them along to witness history.

His wife Suzanne, whom he married in 1981, was his sweetheart and best friend, and his devotion to her was matched only by her steadfast love and care for him in his final hours as he fought a valiant battle against cancer.

Gravois loved teaching his children and grandchildren anything he could. He enjoyed participating in fantasy sports with family and friends, watching movies especially with his granddaughters, attending sporting events, spending time in Louisiana with relatives, enjoying the family pets, going to casinos, horse racing, gardening, celebrating holidays with family – especially decorating the house outside for neighbors to enjoy – photography, and keeping his many followers up-to-date with current events on social media.

He wasn't one to foist his religion on anyone, but Gravois didn't hide his Catholic faith because he never forgot, as Lynyrd Skynyrd liked to sing, "there is someone up above." Let’s just hope they got gumbo and white rice in heaven!

John was preceded in death by his brother Michael Lloyd Gravois, and his parents, Lloyd Joseph Gravois and Wanda Joy Gravois.

He is survived by his wife Suzanne Roy Gravois, his daughter Joy Gravois Hanna and Jason Reed Hanna; his son Nicholas Roy Gravois and Julianna Di Napoli Gravois; and grandchildren Adelyn Pearl Hanna, Gracie Reed Hanna and Lennie Jane Gravois; his brother Jeffrey Paul Gravois and Karrie Swearingin Gravois, nieces Kayla Hall Garner and Angela Hall Rios; Sister-in-Law Nancy Hawley Gravois and nephew Christopher James Gravois; and in-laws who loved him as blood family: Katherine Stewart, Cynthia and Dennis Knight, James Stewart, Bradley Stewart, and Sean Stewart, and countless other friends and family members.

The family would like to thank staff and doctors at the Baylor Scott & White Annette C. and Harold C. Simmons Transplant Institute in Dallas and Texas Oncology. Thanks to their efforts, and the incredible gift of life from an organ donor, Gravois was able to enjoy additional time with his loved ones.

For those able and interested in becoming an organ donor, see how you can continue to pass on the gift of life at https://www.organdonor.gov/sign-up

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Nicholls State University Mass Communication department at https://nichollsfoundation.org/donate-now/. Specify department name in the comments field or the Baylor Scott & White Simmons Transplant Institute, where a tribute to Gravois can be entered at https://dallasfoundation.bswhealth.com/areas-to-support/transplant-area-greastest-need/

Visitation will be held on Thursday, November 20, 2025 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Moore Bowen Road Funeral Home in Arlington, TX. A mass will be held at St. Jude Catholic Church in Mansfield, TX on Friday, November 21, 2025 at 11:00 a.m. For access to live stream please visit; https://www.stjudemansfieldtx.org/

A visitation from 11:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. will be held in New Orleans at Lake Lawn Metairie Funeral Home on Friday, December 5, 2025 with funeral mass following at 1:00 p.m.