Veteran journalist, John R. Harpster, 57, of  Decatur, died Monday, March 7, 1983 in Decatur Memorial Hospital. He was a reporter for the Herald & Review for nearly 30 years.  Services in Brentlinger’s Pershing Funeral Home, burial in Macon County Memorial Park.

Mr. Harpster was born June 2, 1923 in Olney, son of John and Zola Reich Harpster. He married Louise Sharpe in 1980.

He attended Howard College in Birmingham, Ala. and later graduated from the University of Illinois. He began his career in journalism at the Chicago Tribune in 1949 then worked at the News Tribune in Jefferson City, MO, and for the Associated Press, before joining the Herald & Review staff in 1953.

At the Herald & Review, Mr. Harpster specialized in coverage of criminal justice news and issues. His investigations led to stories that prompted follow-up by law enforcement authorities and at times, were entered as evidence in Macon County Circuit Court trials. During his reporting career, he also earned state awards for journalistic excellence.

He was a U.S. Naval Aviation Cadet during WW II and was affiliated with Lovington U.M. Church.

Surviving are his wife; brother, James D. of Littleton, Colo; half-sisters, Mrs. Anne Vinson of Pasadena, Calif and Mrs. Helen May of Glendora, Calif.

Published in Herald & Review (Decatur, IL) – Tuesday, March 8, 1983