William "Bill" Ingenthron

William "Bill" J. Ingenthron was born in Taney County, Mo., to Joseph Ingenthron and Frieda Freeland Ingenthron, on Aug. 18, 1934. He passed away there on Feb. 26, 2017. Bill and his wife of 55 years, Janeth Fisher Ingenthron, another Ozarks native, retired to Marshall, Ark., in 1992. Bill had spent 15 years as a professor of Journalism and Mass Communications from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, and was nicknamed "Dr. I" by his students. He previously taught at Fresno State in California, and Purdue University in Indiana. He earned his Ph.D from the University Of Missouri School Of Journalism, after a stint as reporter and editorial writer in the 1960s on Cape Cod. Bill is remembered as an intelligent, curious, and open minded professor with impish wit, self-deprecating humor, and strong ethics. He was shaped by the conservative principles of his family, the Freelands and Ingenthrons of Taney County, and by his exposure to cultures in Europe, Asia, and California. He was comfortable discussing raising of chickens as a child, the history of USA's Native American policy, or mass communication law. He loved birds and trees, remembered hundreds of poems, and sang aloud. He is survived by his wife Janeth and their children, Robin in Vermont, and Barry Ingenthron and Ally Ingenthron Orsi in Arkansas, and six grandchildren. Bill placed great importance on years we spend together, talking, writing letters, sharing vacations, or remembering one another in silence. He was strong of faith, if not of ceremony. His family will observe a private wake near childhood home in Taney County, with close friends. Arrangements and cremation are under the direction of Cremations of the Ozarks. To leave an online condolence, please visit www.cremationsoftheozarks.com.