Buchanan, Christine Lukens and Tom

Tom and his wife Christine won many state and national awards while editing and publishing the weekly Washington County News in north central Kansas.

They bought the Bucklin Banner in 1956, operating it until 1959. They bought the Washington County News that year, and operated it until 1981, making it one of the better weekly newspapers in the state. 

He was a prolific writer, producing news stories and photographs each week. He also took great pride in the newspaper’s editorial page, writing editorials and two columns every week. He won a first place from the National Newspaper Association in 1966 for an editorial entitled “The American Dream.”

Christine was prolific also, reporting news and writing a popular column every week. 

She and Tom wrote openly about their son Jim's mental illness at a time when such public discussions were rare. For the rest of their lives people reached out to the couple to share stories of mental illness in their own families. 

In 1974, the Buchanans won the Kansas Press Association’s Victor Murdock Award for their coverage of the town of Greenleaf in the year following the Sept. 25, 1973 tornado that destroyed much of that town.

Chris won numerous awards, including a first place from the National Newspaper Association in 1971 for her story about the fire that destroyed the Buchanan family home. 

She was named Woman of Achievement by the Kansas Press Women in 1979. She was a longtime member of both the Kansas Press Women (serving as president for two years) and the National Federation of Press Women, where she served 10 years on the board of directors.

She served on the board of directors of Sterling College from 1977-1983, and she and Tom wrote a book on the history of Sterling College, "Sterling College: Co-worker with God," to commemorate its centennial. 

Tom served for several years on the board of the Kansas Press Association and served a term (1981-1982) as KPA president.

His column, "Around Town With the Assistant Janitor," was a funny, newsy collection of tidbits of what was going on with people in the community. Many of those he wrote about were memorialized with nicknames: Big John, Uncle Vern, the Possum Eater (the Presbyterian preacher), Double L.

Chris and Tom loved to laugh. The year that the Berlin Wall fell, she gave each of their kids a small piece of the wall. They were thrilled. Then she confessed that the pieces, so carefully packaged and labeled, actually were mortar that had come loose from a retaining wall in the front yard.

After Tom's ill health forced the Buchanans to sell The News in 1981, he continued to write his weekly column, “Old Buckshot,” under his nickname. He continued writing it until the week before his death in 2003.

He was an avid outdoorsman who wrote knowledgeably about hunting, fishing, birding and backyard birds. In February of the year of his death, he was named Conservation Communicator of the Year by the Kansas Wildlife Federation.

As with other small-newspaper families, Christine's work did not end at the newspaper office. She took the lead role in raising five children, two who followed their parents in the newspaper business.

Son Bruce served in many Kansas newspaper roles, including as longtime president of the six-newspaper Harris Enterprises group; their daughter Jean served eight years as a reporter and editor at The Atchison Globe, nine years at The Kansas City Star, five years at the Wilmington (Delaware) News-Journal and 14 years as assistant managing editor (supervising watchdog investigative stories) at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Tom was born in 1928 in Osage City. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Sterling College in 1950, and by that time he was working at the Sterling Bulletin newspaper.

In 1955, now married to Christine, he went to work at the Phillips County Review. He and Christine bought the Bucklin Banner in 1956, operating it until 1959 when they bought the Washington County News.

He spent years testing bureaucracy. He once mailed the limb of a birch tree with just an address label affixed to it. He'd often address letters to the Devil, 66968, and wait to see whose mailbox they were delivered to. He added the dog's name to his daughter's car title, which caused a stir when she moved to a state that didn't recognize "and/or" on titles and wanted a signature when she tried to sell the car.

In his retirement, Tom spent hours cataloging all the graves at the Washington City Cemetery, where he and Chris are now buried.