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