Keith Bridwell

Surrounded by his loved ones, Keith Harlan Bridwell, 79, of Bridgeport, took leave of this earth on Sunday, September 29, 2024. Funeral services will be held at 10 am Monday, October 7, at the First Baptist Church of Bridgeport, with interment to follow at Eastside Cemetery. Visitation is scheduled for 4-6 pm on Sunday, October 6, at Hudson & Torres Family Funeral Home in Bridgeport.

Pallbearers will be Joshua, Liam, and Mason Bridwell, Austin Cook, Isaac Hacker, Michael Lewis and Scott Moore; honorary pallbearers include Kevin Casey, Dick Jay, Paul Stein and Wayne Turner.

Keith was born in Denton, Texas, on November 8, 1944, to Harlan and Rosemary (Terrell) Bridwell. He began attending school in Forestburg, Texas, before the family moved to Bellevue, then on to Bowie, Texas, where Keith graduated high school in 1962. He attended Decatur Baptist College, then continued his education at West Texas State University in Canyon, Texas. It was while at West Texas State that he met the girl who would become his wife for the next 58 years. Keith and Karen Elizabeth Jay were wed in Amarillo on July 21, 1966.

Perhaps best-known for his role as the former publisher of The Bridgeport Index, Keith was a lifelong newspaperman, having served as publisher and/or editor of several other publications through the years, including The Frisco Enterprise, The Chico Texan, and the Wise County Shopper.

He was active in the Bridgeport Education Foundation for many years, as well as a large number of other community-based organizations and events. Keith also worked closely with other “Ham” radio operators to ensure that communications could be maintained during local emergencies. He was also the family’s “weather forecaster,” since he had devoted so much time studying and predicting weather patterns.

By nature, Keith tended to be a loner. Coupled with a passion for the outdoors and an intimate knowledge of cameras, he became an extremely talented and accomplished landscape photographer. Keith's greatest loves, however, were his family and community, who will both miss him dearly.

He is preceded in death by a son, Randall Jason Bridwell; a brother, Stanley Malone Bridwell; and his parents.

Keith is survived by his wife, Karen of Bridgeport; sons Jay Bridwell and his wife Trish of Bridgeport, and Reid and wife Jill of Paradise; and daughter Whitney Lewis and husband Michael of Alvord; grandchildren Joshua Bridwell and wife Bryonna of Providence Village; Lauren Bridwell of Alvord; Ivie Hacker of Decatur; Isaac Hacker of Paradise; Liam Bridwell of Paradise; Ashton Lewis of Lamesa; and great-grandchildren Everleigh and Marcus Jay Gonzales of Lamesa, Texas; brother Doug and wife Lynda of Bridgeport; sister Melanie Fair and husband Larry of Bridgeport; brother-in-law Dick Jay and wife Trisha of Amarillo; and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that Keith be memorialized through donations to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital at stjude.org.

© (Hudson & Torres Family Funeral Home)

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