SLS 16RS-2464 ORIGINAL
2016 Regular Session
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 117
BY SENATOR PERRY
COMMENDATIONS. Commends Paul Loren Kedinger upon the occasion of his retirement
following a remarkable fifty year career in journalism.
1 A RESOLUTION
2 To commend and congratulate Paul Loren Kedinger upon the occasion of his retirement
3 following a remarkable fifty year career in journalism.
4 WHEREAS, Paul Kedinger and his three siblings spent their early years on their
5 family dairy farm before moving to and attending school in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin; and
6 WHEREAS, in his teen years, Paul Kedinger felt that he had a calling to become a
7 Catholic priest and after high school he went on to graduate from St. Francis Seminary in
8 Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and
9 WHEREAS, becoming aware that perhaps his future did not lie in serving the church
10 as a priest, Paul Kedinger enrolled in graduate school at the University of Wisconsin, School
11 of Journalism and Mass Communication; and
12 WHEREAS, Mr. Kedinger walked into his first graduate school class and took a seat
13 next to a young woman, Wanda Hudgins, who would become his wife and the two have
14 enjoyed a long and happy marriage; and
15 WHEREAS, Paul Kedinger attended graduate school part-time and worked full-time
16 and while a graduate student he founded the Scriblirious Club, a networking group for
17 faculty and graduate students involved in the study of journalism; and
18 WHEREAS, during graduate school Mr. Kedinger became interested in the area of
Page 1 of 3 SR NO. 117
SLS 16RS-2464 ORIGINAL
1 community journalism, a decision that led to his first job after graduation as editor at the
2 Lake Geneva Regional News in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, and later to become the editor and
3 advertising manager at the New Holstein Reporter in New Holstein, Wisconsin; and
4 WHEREAS, after more than four years in New Holstein, Paul Kedinger's
5 father-in-law, Harold Hudgins, encouraged Paul and Wanda to move home to Oakdale,
6 Louisiana, and Paul would work at Hudgins' Oakdale Beacon; and
7 WHEREAS, the Kedingers relocated to Oakdale, Louisiana, and when Harold
8 Hudgins retired, Paul Kedinger became editor and publisher of the Beacon; and
9 WHEREAS, for the next eight years, Mr. Kedinger converted the paper from a
10 free-circulation publication, funded only through advertising, to a newspaper delivered to
11 paying subscribers through the postal service; and
12 WHEREAS, in 1984, Paul Kedinger sold the newspaper and operated Images, Etc.,
13 an advertising and public relations firm for one year before becoming the editor of the Ville
14 Platte Gazette, a position he held for the next eleven years; and
15 WHEREAS, eventually, Mr. Kedinger left the Gazette to work for Louisiana State
16 Newspapers, a chain of smaller newspapers around the state, where he worked on special
17 projects; and
18 WHEREAS, in his work for Louisiana State Newspapers, Mr. Kedinger traveled the
19 state hiring and training editors until the acquisitions of the company began to slow as the
20 newspaper business throughout the country stagnated; and
21 WHEREAS, Paul Kedinger's employer at Louisiana Newspapers requested that he
22 move to Rayne to serve as the managing editor of the Rayne Acadian-Tribune, a paper
23 owned by the company; and
24 WHEREAS, for twenty years, Mr. Kedinger held the position of managing editor
25 until his retirement in April, 2016; and
26 WHEREAS, throughout his fifty year career in journalism, Paul Kedinger trained and
27 mentored countless young women and men who went on to become well-respected
28 journalists and positive contributors to their communities; and
29 WHEREAS, Mr. Kedinger eventually tried his hand at religious journalism, what he
30 first thought was his journalistic destiny, and for the last five years and at the request of the
Page 2 of 3 SR NO. 117
SLS 16RS-2464 ORIGINAL
1 bishop, he has served on the Lafayette diocesan board of communication; and
2 WHEREAS, Paul Kedinger plans to continue writing on a freelance basis on his
3 computer at his father-in-law's rolltop desk, maintaining the link between the two
4 generations of the Hudgins-Kedinger family and their community; and
5 WHEREAS, over the fifty years of a career marked by declines in support for and
6 readership of newspapers, Paul Kedinger has strengthened the bond between smaller
7 communities and their newspapers, living the principles of journalism learned at the
8 University of Wisconsin and reinforced by all the editors and publishers for whom he was
9 fortunate to work; and
10 WHEREAS, retirement will bring more time to spend with his wife, for whom he
11 says he became a "Cajun convert", his sons and their families, including his twelve
12 grandchildren.
13 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
14 does hereby commend and congratulate Paul Kedinger upon the occasion of his retirement
15 following a remarkable fifty year career in journalism.
16 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to
17 Paul Kedinger.
The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Mary Dozier O'Brien.
DIGEST
SR 117 Original 2016 Regular Session Perry
Commends Paul Kedinger upon the occasion of his retirement following a remarkable 50
year career in journalism.
Page 3 of 3