Wohlfarth, Martindale: two pros

Two journalists who have been essential to the creation of each edition of Panhandle-Plains Basketball Magazine for the past 12 years deserve more than a brief mention on page 2. Dave Wohlfarth has written almost all of the high school team profiles, a good portion of the college team profiles and many of the feature stories on state champions and other basketball topics during that decade-plus, all so thoroughly and professionally that it would be difficult to replace him. Cathy Martindale, also a talented journalism veteran, has been his meticulous editor and has written a few stories for the magazine herself. Plus, when Dave has traveled around the Panhandle and South Plains to interview coaches and players, she has accompanied him as a photographer.

The pair came up with the idea of the 300 Club, the magazine’s chart listing area coaches whose teams have won at least 300 games in their careers. They have collaborated to update the 300 Club every year. And they have graciously helped deliver magazines when needed.

By the way, Dave and Cathy have been married to each other for 31 years.

This magazine is just one bullet point on the resumes of both longtime journalists. Dave ended his full-time career as a professor at West Texas A&M University, and Cathy’s full-time newspaper career peaked as executive editor of the Amarillo Globe-News.

Dave Wohlfarth

Dave Wohlfarth was born and raised in Lincoln, Nebraska, and graduated from the University of Nebraska with a B.S. in journalism. He was sports editor of the Daily Nebraskan for several semesters and played three years of varsity tennis. Dave worked part-time as a sportswriter for the Lincoln Star while finishing his final semester.

He worked a year in sports for the East St. Louis Journal, which later became the Metro-East Journal, then moved to Dayton, Ohio, and worked in sports for 15 years for the Dayton Journal-Herald. He switched over to news and eventually became the news editor.

After 20 years with the Dayton paper, Dave moved back to Lincoln for five years as the executive sports editor for the Lincoln Journal-Star.

He then started a new career, moving to Amarillo and earning a master’s degree in mass communications at Texas Tech University. He taught journalism and mass comm courses at West Texas A&M University from 1991 to 2008 and also was adviser for the school newspaper, The Prairie, for 12 years.

Dave retired from teaching in 2007. In 2012, WT honored him with the title, Instructor Emeritus of Mass Communication.

He wrote the majority of the stories for the 2008 book, Pride of the Plains: 50 Years of the Panhandle-Sports Hall of Fame, the 2014 sequel to the book and the 2019 second edition. He served as a full-time quality control manager in Amarillo for the 2010 U.S. Census.

Dave has six children and 13 grandchildren from a previous marriage. He says he and Cathy currently are in charge of two horses, three dogs and two cats.

Cathy Martindale

Cathy Martindale was born and raised in Dayton, Ohio. She graduated from Ohio University with a bachelor’s degree in journalism.

Dave Wohlfarth and Cathy Martindale

She did a summer internship at the Journal Herald in Dayton and became a full-time reporter the following year. She worked at the Journal Herald for 13 years, including stints covering beats such as metro and city education, investigative reporting, law enforcement, civil rights, copy desk, city editor and production editor.

In 1983, Cathy became copy desk chief of the Florida TimesUnion in Jacksonville, Florida. In 1986, she became copy desk chief of the Wichita Eagle-Beacon in Wichita, Kansas.

And in 1988, she became executive editor of the Amarillo Globe-News.

In 2003, she became corporate editor of Morris Communications, based in Augusta, Georgia, but worked from Amarillo.

Cathy served one term as president of the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas, and in 2014, she was inducted into the Panhandle Press Association Hall of Fame.

She says she and Dave enjoy traveling and overseeing their vast ranch of 10 acres and two horses, two dogs and two cats (at last count.) (Cathy obviously didn’t edit this story, because there remains a discrepancy between the number of dogs that she and Dave claim live at their house. Maybe we should let sleeping dogs lie.)