Richard 'Dick' Smyser, a former Daily Collegian managing editor who went on to a distinguished journalism career in Tennessee, died March 14 of congestive heart failure. He was 81.

Smyser, brother of Collegian Hall of Fame member Adam "Bud" Smyser, also served as a member of the Collegian Board of Directors Inc., from 1989 to 1991.

The York native was Collegian managing editor from 1942 to 1943, after which he joined the U.S. Army. He graduated from Penn State with a journalism degree in 1944. He served in the Army during World War II, from May 1943 to November 1945.

Smyser began his newspaper career with the Chester Times after leaving the Army. Within two years he became the founding editor of The Oak Ridger in Oak Ridge, Tenn.

It was in Tennesee where Smyser made a name for himself. His newspaper earned more than 30 Tennessee Press Association public service awards during a time when the newspaper was in the thick of covering the city's transformation from a federally owned community to one that was self-governing. The Oak Ridger was the community's first independently owned newspaper.

Smyser also served as an active member of the Associated Press Managing Editors Association and the Amerucan Society of Newspaper Editors.

He returned to Happy Valley as a visiting professor of journalism, from 1989 to 1991.

He and his older brother Bud were honored with the Distinguished Alumni Award from Penn State.

Bud Smyser was the first Collegian editor when the student newspaper became a daily in 1940. A longtime editor of the Honolulu Star Bulletin, Bud Smyser died in 2001.

The brothers joined a few Collegian staff members in the newsroom on a warm September afternoon in 1990 to celebrate 50 years of daily publication.

Damon Chappie, a Reading native and an investigative reporter in Washington, D.C., died of congestive heart failure and other health problems Nov. 5, 2004, in Washington Home, Washington, DC.

Chappie, 40, Arlington, Va., was employed as chief congressional reporter by the Bureau of National Affairs, Washington, serving as a reporter and editor on various daily and weekly news reports during his seven years in the nation's capital.

He was also employed as an investigative reporter by Roll Call in Washington since 1995. In 2003, he was named senior writer and investigations editor by Roll Call. He last worked in September.

During his career, he examined ethical conflicts surrounding former House speaker Newt Gingrich, former representative Henry Hyde, former representative James A. Traficant Jr., and House Majority Leader Tom DeLay.

Born in Reading, he was a son of Donald and Janice Chappie, Douglassville.

He was a graduate of Daniel Boone High School, Birdsboro, and a 1987 graduate of Penn State with a bachelor's degree in journalism.

During and shortly after his time at Penn State, Chappie worked at several local papers, including the Lancaster Intelligencer and the Pottstown Mercury.

While at Penn State, he worked as a reporter for the Collegian. He investigated Clair George, a Penn State alumnus who was one of the CIA's central figures in the Iran-contra scandal of the 1980s.

Chappie also worked in his Arlington community to lessen transportation and other access challenges for the disabled.

Two years ago, he was named an "unsung hero" of Washington by the American Journalism Review.

Chappie, who resided with Melissa Cohen, is also survived by a sister.

Laura Ward '92, a former Daily Collegian arts and entertainment editor, died Jan. 7 after a lifelong battle with kidney disease.

Ward was in her last year at Penn State when her second kidney transplant failed. Still, she prevailed without complaint during three daily rounds of dialysis, handling her editorial duties with zeal.

Ward was a popular student teacher who earned her degree in 1997. She was an actress and a movie buff.

Ward died at the age of 34. She is survived by her father, Gene; her mother, Lynn; brothers David, Robert and Michael; and her sister. Mary.

Johanne "Josie" Krasnansky, 71, wife of former Daily Collegian editor in chief and Collegian Alumni Interest Group member Marvin Krasnansky '52, died April 12 in her home in Washington State.

Born in Hazleton and raised in Berwick, Josie Krasnanski was a nurse who later in life served as a volunteer and supporter in the fight against AIDS.

In addition to her husband, she is survived by three children and four grandchildren.