Square Deal sells to native of Atwood

The Rawlins County Square Deal has sold to an Atwood native, and control will change in January, said Mary Holle, co-owner.

Lloyd Huff and his wife, Susan, who live near Fort Worth, are purchasing the stock of Rawlins County Publishing, Inc., with the closing set for mid-January.

The newspaper was started with community support in 1992 by owners Keith and Rosalie Ross, Kevin and Mary Holle and Joe and Katie Snystrup. It has since moved into a new building at 114 S. Fourth St. in Atwood.

Huff recently retired from Lockheed Martin as a senior fellow emeritus after a 34-year career in the aerospace field.

He earned Bachelor and Master or Science degrees from the University of Kansas. His wife, a native of Evanston, Ill., grew up in Omaha, then moved to Kansas City as a high school senior. She received a Bachelor of Arts in environmental studies at KU.

The couple met at college and were married in August 1977, just before he started graduate school.

In 1979,  they moved to Fort Worth, where he started his career developing software for General Dynamics. After working as a lab technician for the Texas Animal Health Co., Susan Huff later joined her husband at General Dynamics as a tech analyst.

Lloyd Huff said the move to Atwood represents a "coming home," especially since they are moving into the house where he grew up. Susan Huff noted that her grandfather was in the newspaper business.

They have three children. Son Christopher recently married Lin Zi, whom he met while both were graduate students at Oxford University in England. Daughter Kelsey married Bob Weinstein, a high school Latin teacher, in May. They live in Lawrence. Daughter Caroline graduated from high school in May and is a student at KU, where she is a German and Spanish major.

"It is our belief that a newspaper is the glue that holds a community together," said Rosalie Ross, Square Deal publisher. "We have worked hard to keep our readers informed, to promote events, to help our advertisers sell their merchandise and to preserve the history of Rawlins County."