Letter from Lee

Remembering “Mr. Gallup.”

John Bonner McBreen, a journalism major who graduated from OU in 1971, died at the age of 68 in March 2018.  I did not know him personally, but hear he was a radio legend in Gallup, NM.

A couple of months after John’s death, I received a call from Jay Mason, principal of the Mason and Isaacson, P.A. law firm. Jay called to tell me that John McBreen left Gaylord College an unrestricted gift of $100,000 in his estate. We were grateful beyond words and used this gift to create an endowed scholarship in memory of John and to provide funding for graduate student scholarships and the JayMac alumni association.

A few months later, Mason called to tell me that another gift to Gaylord College was on its way—a second unrestricted gift of $100,000! The majority of this gift was allocated to support a new initiative in our college – Gaylord News. We plan to use this to establish a physical presence and branding of Gaylord News within Gaylord College.

This past September, I drove to New Mexico and met Jay Mason in person. Jay had become a great phone friend and when I entered Jay’s Gallup office, he handed me another check – yes, a third unrestricted gift from John McBreen’s estate for $100,000. To say we’re grateful is an understatement.

These gifts from John McBreen made me curious about his story, and my day in Gallup proved insightful about this generous donor. McBreen spent his life in Gallup covering all aspects of Gallup news, from the school board and city council meetings to the political turmoil within the local governments. He interviewed every governor, state senator and representative and even members of Congress over 40 years and was able to get on the phone with anyone he wanted and get an interview because everyone knew him.

The late senator Pete Domenici had a weekly interview with John and heralded him as New Mexico’s very best small-town reporter. John was a valuable asset for The Associated Press, who gave him dozens of awards over the years for his coverage of Gallup as well as being the biggest contributor of news of any of its local stringers in the state.

Patty Lundstrom wrote a guest column in the local Gallup newspaper in which she stated,

“John was definitely an ‘old style’ reporter and he didn’t let new-fangled technology distract him from his task. How many of us remember his old clunky tape-recorder and microphone that he hauled around with him for his interviews! And he always did his homework. He often knew more about a given issue than the elected officials did. He was always calm and always kept a light smile on his lips – even when he was asking the tough questions – as though he already knew the answer but just wanted to hear what you had to say about it. He was a gentle and thoughtful person, but was never afraid to expose the actions of those who broke the law or violated the public trust.”

Jay and I lunched at Angela’s Café, which is located on historic Highway 66 and occupies part of the Gallup train station. In the Café, there is a table which honors John McBreen who lunched there every day. The menu sports the McBreen Club sandwich and his most esteemed journalism award is proudly displayed for all in the Café to see. After lunch, I attended a rotary subcommittee meeting where I had the pleasure of meeting Sammy Chioda, the general manager of Millennium Media, where McBreen had a morning news radio show for almost 20 years and also did news updates at noon and 5 p.m.

I was grateful to have this opportunity to visit Gallup and know more about “Mr. Gallup.”  I am sorry that I never had the opportunity to meet John McBreen and personally thank him, but his legacy at Gaylord College will live on forever.  And, as Jay Mason said, “John McBreen is smiling down on the important ways Gaylord College is using his gifts to help students.”

Lee Reynolds
Director of Development and Alumni Relations
Class of 1977