Ida Adair Luker

Ida Adair Lassiter Luker, owner of Orange County Publishing Co. Inc, and Publisher of The Vidor Vidorian, died Saturday, April 25 in Vidor with her sons, Dan and Randall by her side. Born October 27, 1922 in Elkhart, Texas to Herbert Lassiter and Ida Delle Lively Lassiter, she graduated Elkhart High School at 16 and attended Sam Houston where she was elected a class beauty before returning to Elkhart and meeting Merle Luker from Grapeland, whom she married on September 27, 1940, a month shy of her 18th birthday. The union lasted until January 15, 2009 with Merle Luker’s death. Following her marriage, Mrs. Luker joined her husband’s family newspaper business, The Grapeland Messenger, mainly in advertising sales, but during WWII, with Merle serving in the Pacific aboard the USS Rigel, and brother-in-law Ed Luker serving in the US Army, her duties increased to include setting type, office work and page layout as she and father-in-law A. H. “Kid” Luker continued to publish the weekly ewspaper. A telephone call from Claude Keeland, a Crockett native serving as president of Vidor State Bank about The Vidor Vidorian, the local newspaper in search of a new owner in the growing Golden Triangle area resulted in the Lukers bundling up their young family and moving to Vidor in March 1959. Assuming ownership of the Vidorian, with hard work, Vidor’s paper increased readership to reach more than 6,000 subscribers. The threat of an out of the area concern to begin a free “green sheet’ or free sales only paper led to the establishment of Four Star Press and the free distribution newspaper for the Vidor area-The Vidorian Shopper. Adair provided the startup funding for Four Star and the idea and advertising for The Vidorian Shopper. The papers’ main, usually only, salesperson for decades, she made many friends throughout the area business community and readers kept up with her weekly “At Random” column where she recounted daily life experiences in the community and often mixed with adventures and misadventures encountered on weekend trips to the family farm with her family. Working daily at the paper until the past few years, Luker saw many changes in the newspaper industry from hot type to digital production. She served as President of the Texas Gulf Coast Press Association 1970-1971, was recognized as Vidor Outstanding Citizen in 1982 and was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Vidor Chamber of Commerce in 2012. She especially enjoyed trips to the farm, fishing, time spent with family, her plants and flowers, travel and attending Pirate football home games. She is survived by sons Dan Luker and his wife Arenda and Randall Luker; grandchildren Trice Luker and his wife Ashley, Leigh Anne Harrington, Jeff Luker and his wife Jena, Alex Luker, Anna Luker and Alyssa Luker; great grandchildren Gracie Rae Luker, Jackson Luker, Avery Harrington, Leah Luker, Gracie Kae Luker and Avery Luker. Graveside services will be held at Grapeland City Cemetery, Grapeland Texas at 1 p.m. Thursday, April 30. Pastor Gary Luker, nephew of Mrs. Luker, will officiate. Funeral arrangements are being handled by Memorial Funeral Home of Vidor.