Linn A. Pescaia

Linn Anthony Pescaia, age 77, died October 28, 2015 at Providence Hospice in Waco after a short battle with gastric cancer. At his request, there was no memorial service. Mr. Pescaia, along with his wife Sue, have owned and managed The West News for the past 42 years, the longest tenured owners in the newspaper's 125-year history. Linn was born February 13, 1938 in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii to Antone Alves Pescaia and Kathleen Lola Cauthen Pescaia. The family lived in Hawaii until 1953 when they moved to Denison, Texas following Linn's father's retirement from Civil Service. Linn's grandparents emigrated from Madeira Island, Portugal to Maui, Hawaii in the late 1880s. He graduated from Denison High School in 1956 and attended Southeast State College in Durant, Oklahoma. He later transferred to East Texas State Teachers College (now Texas A&M at Commerce) and graduated with B.S. and M.S. degrees and was enrolled in a PhD program. Mr. Pescaia served his country in the United States Navy on active duty for two years and four years in reserve and was honorably discharged in 1966. His career in the newspaper and printing industry began when he was a pre-teen by having a home delivery newspaper route for the Honolulu Star Bulletin in Wahiawa, Oahu, Territory of Hawaii. In Denison he went to work part-time while in school at The Denison Press as a printer and worked there while in high school and college. At ETSU he worked in the college print shop and was later made part of the faculty, teaching printing. He later accepted a faculty position at Sam Houston State University where he taught printing, photography and photo engraving. In 1969 he was hired by James Connally Technical Institute in Waco to establish their offset printing instructional program and was program chairman there until the time he and his wife purchased the Cechoslovak Publishing Co. in West in April 1973. When the Pescaias purchased the West newspaper it was an antiquated letterpress operation. They began the change over to offset printing almost immediately by purchasing a Goss Community press. The change has continued and approximately two years ago The West News purchased computer to plate equipment and press equipment to print four color work. Mr. Pescaia and Sue Melton were married March 15, 1969 in Huntsville. They have one son, John Anthony Pescaia and his wife Heather of West. Mr. Pescaia is also survived by son Lee Anthony Pescaia of White Oak, and one grandson, Ryan Lee Pescaia of San Marcos. Other survivors include a sister, Doris Gomes of Hawaii and several nieces and nephews as well as cousins in Texas and Hawaii. Linn was a lover of nature. He enjoyed hunting and fishing. He appreciated music, poetry and art and was an avid reader. He learned to play the guitar as a young boy in Hawaii and through his Hawaiian friends learned to play "slack key," a method of guitar playing used in Hawaiian music. Hearing loss and distortion from Meniere's Syndrome prevented his enjoyment of music in later life. He was very proud of his accomplishment of having a commercial multi-engine pilot's license. His interests also included gardening, boating and traveling, both international and domestic. He was especially proud of being able to go inside the burial chamber of the Great Pyramid in Egypt and walk on the Great Wall of China, visit Jerusalem as well many sights in Europe, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia and many trips to his beloved Hawaii. He was kind, generous and loved his family and home. He was always interested and open to the opinions of others. He preferred to stay out of the spotlight and enjoyed helping those in need. His kindness was demonstrated to both people and animals. He was a quiet, gentle man and loved the simple things in life. As a young child, Linn stood with his parents in the front yard of their home and watched as Japanese planes flew over and bombed Battleship Row in Pearl Harbor. Although quite young, he remembered the event marked by his mother placing a pillow over his head to protect him from shrapnel. Mr. Pescaia was a Baptist. He was comfortable in his relationship with God and constantly studied not only the Bible but many other books, publications, articles and DVD's on religion to satisfy his quest for knowledge. Linn loved American Indian history and recently he and Sue visited the gravesites of Quanah Parker and his mother, Cynthia Ann Parker at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. He also had a private tour of Quanah's home, "The Star House" given by the current owner Wayne Gipson. Wayne gave Linn a shingle from the roof as a momento from the very historic visit. One of his favorite quotes was by Crowfoot, a Blackfoot Indian chief, who on his deathbed around 1890 said, What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night, It is the breath of a buffalo in the winter time, It is the little shadow that runs across the grass And loses itself in the sunset. For those desiring to make a memorial in his name, memorials may be made to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, P.O. Box 1000 Dept. 142, Memphis, Tennessee 38148, the West Rest Haven or to any charity of your choice.