by Holly Ann Abel
After over 50 years of delivering the news to their community, a newspaper couple is being recognized for their dedication. Clarke and Marveta Davis, who have been churning out headlines since before the days of computers and inkjet printers, are being honored as the 75th Annual Jefferson County 4-H Parade grand marshals by the Valley Falls Chamber of Commerce.
The couple, who prefer to remain behind the scenes and out of the spotlight, were the driving force behind The Valley Falls Vindicator and The Oskaloosa Independent from 1968 to 2021. From late nights at the office to early morning deliveries, they never wavered in their commitment to delivering the news to their readers.
Humbled to be recognized at this year’s county parade, the Davises reflect on their many years in the newspaper and printing business.
“It’s an honor to be asked and it makes us feel like we did a good enough job,” Clarke said. “We appreciate the Chamber of Commerce’s recognition.”
The couple both grew up in Iowa and attended the same high school where they met. Marveta remembers Clarke as being very kind and always sporting a cowboy hat. A junior at the time, she approached him for a copy of his senior picture and a few days later, he asked her out to the movies. The rest, as they say, is history. The two wed September 15, 1963 at a church in Audubon, Iowa.
Clarke, a farm boy at heart, never imagined that he’d someday be a journalist. He was first introduced to the journalism field in the third grade when his classmates elected him as the class reporter. Though he had no desire at a young age to trade in his boots for a pen and notepad, he credits his elementary school teachers for their tireless dedication in teaching him the skills to be a writer.
After graduating high school and serving a year in the military, Clarke moved to Western Kansas to do farm work at the age of 19. Not knowing what direction his life was going, he could have never predicted that a conversation over a cup of coffee at his parents’ restaurant would pave the way for his lifelong career.
Leigh Delay, a production manager for The Oakley Graphic, a newspaper in the small town of Oakley, was the man on the other side of the cafe table, sipping hot coffee while discussing his line of work. Delay found himself needing an extra hand while juggling running his own business and helping out a nearby newspaper in Gove. He told Clarke if there was interest, he would teach him how to run a linotype machine, a hot metal typesetting system used in the printing industry.
Clarke, a Fort Hays student at the time, says he had no idea what he was getting into, but jumped right into learning about the field, honing his writing skills and learning the ins and outs of becoming a reporter. Shortly after, he accepted a job as the editor of The Gove County Republican Gazette.
Three years later, he and Marveta moved to Sharon Springs where he worked for the Western Times for a little under two years.
A business opportunity in the rural town of Valley Falls sparked interest in Clarke, Marveta, and their friends, Robert and Carol Wilson. Robert was an employee of The Oakley Graphic. The four of them decided to take a leap of faith by taking over The Vindicator as business partners in January of 1968. Though this new business plan would require them to uproot their lives, they saw it as a chance for new beginnings.
“I was very happy that we had the chance to own a paper with Robert and Carol. I had a lot of faith in Clarke and Robert, and I was too young to realize that it might not work out. I recall getting a copy of The Vindicator out in Sharon Springs. We sat down and went through it realizing all that the town had to offer, from a pizza and ice cream shop to a movie theatre and several grocery stores. When we visited Valley Falls, we found it hard to find a parking place on Broadway Street. The town was thriving,” Marveta said.
The story behind their acquisition is as unconventional as it is compelling. Looking for financial backing, the Davis and Wilson families were offered a loan from a widow who worked at The Oakley Graphic with both Clarke and Robert.
In a surprising turn of events, the woman, Marie Ziegler, who had lost her husband, Otto Ziegler, in the infamous York and Lathem killing spree, used a portion of the settlement money to help the Davis and Wilson families buy the newspaper. A tragedy for one family launched an opportunity for another.
Shortly after moving to Valley Falls, the couples also purchased The Oskaloosa Independent.
In the bustling world of production management, it’s not uncommon for business owners to wear multiple hats and juggle various responsibilities at once. Marveta found herself doing just that when first starting out. While Clarke spent his time writing stories about the community, her duties included running a letter press, inserting pages and flyers once the newspaper was printed, using a machine to fold the newspaper, and then labeling each paper with their intended addressees, among other things. She ran the front office, sold advertisement, and wrote feature stories.
“I just tried to help where I could,” Marveta said. “I knew very little about newspapers or job printing. I knew I had a lot to learn.”
Whether reporting on a small-town festival or a major political scandal, photographing an oddly-shaped vegetable or the aftermath of a natural disaster, both Clarke and Marveta have not only seen, but covered a wide variety of events and have met a diverse group of people throughout their years in business.
Reflecting on their long career, the couple acknowledges that they have seen the newspaper business change dramatically over the years, from the days of hot lead typesetting and letter press printing equipment to the digital age we live in now.
“Hard labor and long hours were needed in those early days. You got grimy and tired and everything had ink on it, including us,” Marveta recalls.
And while they don’t miss the days of hot lead and ink-stained clothes, they feel grateful for the half a century they have dedicated to bringing their ever-changing community news and stories both big and small.
“In retrospect, we’ve seen how much the community has grown and changed over the years. When we first moved here, Perry Lake was dry. Since then, we’ve watched subdivisions develop along the lake and quickly saw the progression of how a rural county known for agriculture changed to a bedroom county for larger communities” Clarke says.
One thing that hasn’t changed for the past 75 years is the commitment of volunteers through the 4-H organization, known for empowering young people with the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed in life.
In a full circle moment, Clarke explained that in the early days, he would hire 4-H kids to sell subscriptions to the newspaper, which in turn, helped to build a circulation among the 4-H community.
“Jefferson County is splintered into a lot of communities in small cities. The 4-H program is a uniting aspect for the county because it really brings those families and kids together,” Clarke said.
Longtime supporters of the local 4-H program, the Davises expressed their deep appreciation and respect for the values and good people involved in the leadership organization.
“We have so much respect for the 4-H leaders who roll up their sleeves. If they haven’t been recognized, we hope they are someday,” Clarke said.
In their free time, Clarke and Marveta enjoy spending time with their growing family. Members of the family include son Monty Davis and Sara Peterson Davis, Liberty, Mo.; their children, Seth Davis and Nora Burkitt Davis, Kansas City, Mo., and Brynne Davis, and fiancé, Ian O’Neal, both Kansas City, Mo.; son Corey Davis, Valley Falls, and the late Diana Davis, their children, Holly Ann and Justin Abel, and their daughters, the late Magnolia, and Marigold, Lawrence, and Mandy and Nathaniel Becker, Wichita.
