Pankonin closes out career in hometown

After nearly 40 years in the industry, and just over two years at the Grant Tribune, Russ Pankonin is taking a step back from newswriting.

Pankonin, 63, grew up in the Grant area, noting that when he grew up “you could look in the phone book and see Pankonin after Pankonin.”

If not for asthma and allergies to wheat and corn dust, he said he would have likely been a farmer like his dad. 

He met his wife of 42 years now, Lori, at the Chase County Fair when he was a junior and she was a sophomore. Pankonin said it was “one of those love-at-first-sight things,” and eventually the pair got together.

They attended what was Kearney State College at the time where Pankonin was a Business major with an emphasis in real estate.

They were looking at settling down in Kearney, but plans changed when they got a call from Lori’s dad, Loral Johnson in May 1982. He let them know he had purchased the Wauneta Breeze and asked if they wanted to join Johnson Publications and run Wauneta’s paper.

Pankonin said they had a week to make the decision.

After taking a look at the town that weekend, they made the choice to move and be co-editors of the Wauneta Breeze. Their first issue was published in June 1982.

Pankonin said he and Lori were very fortunate to have been mentored by Lori’s parents, “as we were nothing but neophytes in the newspaper business.”

The Pankonins lived in Wauneta for 15 years before moving to Imperial, and he enjoyed being able to be involved in the Wauneta community while living there.

The Pankonins had two daughters during their time in Wauneta, Brooke Robertson and Celeste May, who have since grown the family, giving Pankonins eight grandchildren.

On April 1, 1999 the Pankonins, along with Lori’s sister Brenda Brandt, purchased Johnson Publications, which included newspapers in Wauneta, Imperial, Grant and Holyoke.

Since October of 2019, Pankonin has assumed the role of editor for the Grant Tribune-Sentinel after Robertson left her role at the newspaper.

Outside of his career, Pankonin has been involved with Imperial’s fair board for more than 30 years. He has also spent more than 30 years refereeing high school basketball in the local area, and after 25 years of the activity he received recognition from the NSAA.

Though he continued writing for the Imperial Republican during that time, he said his focus became Grant and Perkins County.

“The last two years have been especially memorable,” Pankonin said. “After starting under some tenuous circumstances, the community has been good to the Tribune and me.”

Having grown up here and then coming back to close out his career, he added, has been very special.

Though Pankonin is nearing the end of his journalism career, as he will be leaving the newspapers at the end of the month, he said he is too young to retire.

“After turning 60 I said ‘60s are the new 40s,’ so I have to try and live by that,” he said, joking that his mind is writing checks his body can’t cash.

His intentions are to find something to do to decompress after more than 40 years of weekly deadlines. Pankonin said he would definitely be playing more golf, traveling more and spending more time with family, though he might get a part time job as well.

“I don’t intend to just sit on the couch and watch TV,” he said.

Notable news

Over nearly 40 years of working at a newspaper, Pankonin has had the opportunity to experience and cover a variety of exciting and unique events.

Some that stick out to him include covering state championship teams in Wauneta and Imperial, and during his time in Grant he provided news coverage of Brandon Knoles’ state championship earlier this year.

He also noted his time being involved with the Nebraska Press and National Newspaper Association opened a lot of doors. During their journalism careers, the Pankonins both served on the Nebraska Press Association board of directors, as did Robertson, and Russ was president for both NPA and the Nebraska Press Advertising service.

Early on in his career, Pankonin had the opportunity to meet then-President Bill Clinton during a National Newspaper Convention in Washington, D.C.

He recalled being told ahead of time to stand for a photo with the president and move on—no interviews.

Congress had just passed the Freedom to Farm Act, and Pankonin said he couldn’t resist.

“As we were standing for the picture, I asked President Clinton if he was going to sign the farm bill,” he said. “While our paper didn’t come out for the next week, I’m sure I scooped most journalists in the country getting his response firsthand.”

This is an experience Pankonin considers unique, and something he would always remember.

Also during this trip, he said during the reception, he and Lori danced to the Marine Band on the marble floors in the entry of the White House.

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