Alyce Henschke is a rare gem. She has worked her entire career at the Wayne Herald.
She has seen many changes in the newspaper industry, and has been the backbone of the Wayne Herald. She has been described as very knowledgeable, caring, understanding and can figure out just about anything when it comes to publishing a newspaper.
Henschke grew up in Wayne, graduating from Wayne High School in 1976. She is married to her husband Tom. He is retired from Ellis Plumbing. They have two sons, Christopher and Cody. Both of their sons are married and live in Omaha.
In the fall of 1975, like most teenagers, she wanted spending money. She applied at the newspaper and was hired as a proofreader.
In 1975, the newspaper industry was very particular about proofing. She would come in the evening after school and proof the newspaper. Computers, spell check and Grammarly were not created at this time.
During the past 50 years Henschke has witnessed many changes in the newspaper industry. She has seen improvements since the manual typewriter and typesetting with hot metal methods to photosetting using dark rooms. This trend continued through the use of cassettes, floppy disks until multiple computer systems were first used in February 1989 at the Wayne Herald. This was one of the best advancements in Henschkes’ job.
Henschke said change was scary, especially when the newspaper started working with multiple computers. It was very different and took a while to learn new ways.
Henschke eventually moved to composition. Having the job of composition has many parts. The explanation of composition is putting the newspaper together like a puzzle. Making everything fit together before it is sent to be printed.
While technology has been a great benefit to the newspaper industry, it has also caused many newspapers to decrease in production, and in some cases go out of business. Many people today read the newspaper online with actual paper subscriptions on the decline.
The first of May was Henschke’s official last day. She continues to work helping with transition of a new person and the Wayne County Fair Book.
Diana Smith said, “Alyce has been great to work with! She’s been gracious and patient in teaching me her filing system with the thousands of documents, she was trusted with a lot of projects; the knowledge she has on all of them is immeasurable. She laid an incredible foundation to build on and that’s what I plan to continue doing.”
Clara Osten said, “Alyce has seen many changes over the years she has been at the Wayne Herald. She has a wealth of knowledge about all aspects of the newspaper and has been able to share that information with all those she has worked with over the years.”
Retirement plans for Henschke are to be able to do what she wants to do. She said she will take walks, read, and possibly make some road trips.
Henschke said she has a lot of good memories from the 50 years at the Wayne Herald. Her favorite memory is from the summer of 1977. She said there was a huge celebration with a BBQ for celebrating the Wayne Herald’s anniversary. She said it was a big deal, and this October the Wayne Herald will be 150 years old.
Kevin Peterson, publisher of the Wayne Herald said, “It’s rare to find someone that works at a job for as long as she has for their entire career. She is loyal, has passion for the newspaper.” He also said she is dependable and one word he had for her was "amazing."
The Wayne Herald will greatly miss Henschke.
