All About Front Porch News Founder Bobby McDonald
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Bobby McDonald was one of Hopkins County’s foremost historians, and has a long history of connections to his home.
McDonald was born July 29, 1956 in Sulphur Springs, the son of Phillip M. “Pete” and Joyce (Crouch) McDonald. Bobby was the sixth generation of his family to live in Hopkins County, after his family arrived to Reilly Springs following the Civil War. His father owned and operated a store on State Highway 154 in the Reilly Springs Community.
McDonald attended Sulphur Springs High School and graduated with honors in 1974. He then attended Texas A&M University and graduated from A&M Commerce in 1977.
He spent fifteen years as a dairy farmer and owned and operated McDonald Bookkeeping and Tax Service.
His honors and societies included serving as a State Young Farmer of Texas Officer, a member of the Young Farmer and Rancher Advisory Committee for Texas Farm Bureau, and executive secretary to the Texas Holstein Association.
He was also a weekly columnist for the both the Hopkins County Echo and Sulphur Springs News-Telegram’s community news section on Reilly Springs, and worked as a freelance writer for the National Dairy Farm magazine.
He authored three books on Hopkins County history: “A Place Called Hopkins County,” “Plow Deep” and “Out of the Darkness: The Black Face of Hopkins County.”
In the mid-2000s he founded this blog, frontporchnewstexas.com, which would grow to be the number one leading site for online news in Hopkins County and surrounding areas.
McDonald passed away on November 8, 2016, from complications after an emergency appendix surgery. His last act of public servantship was blogging the previous day’s election.
McDonald’s love of history and passion for our community are missed by all of Hopkins County. The milking contest at the Hopkins County Dairy Festival now bears his name, and his legacy of Front Porch News continues to thrive with his original vision of positivity in mind.
By Taylor Nye. Research from Bobby McDonald obituary, Bobby McDonald author biography, and firsthand knowledge. Pictured: Bobby McDonald poses with plow. From “Out of the Darkness: The Black Face of Hopkins County.”
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