Editor and historian Dean Prichard died March 18 after a short illness.
Prichard became editor of the national edition of the Tombstone Epitaph in 1974 and oversaw it until an accident last year that left him paralyzed from the neck down. The paper, a monthly journal of Western history, has subscribers around the world.
He was well-known in the Oracle area as the owner of High Jinks Ranch and as a protector of the desert he loved. The ranch is a national historic site and a stop on the Arizona Trail, said Ellie Mattausch, his friend and editor and publisher of The Oracle newspaper. Buffalo Bill Cody owned or had an interest in gold-mining claims on the property.
Prichard, who was in his 80s, was born in Kansas. He was a World War II veteran and graduated from the University of Arizona in 1950. He worked for the Arizona Daily Star, the Kansas City Star, the Detroit Free Press and the J. Walter Thompson Co. He also worked for Fairchild Publications and for the Reader's Digest, including postings in the Soviet Union, Asia, Australia and Denmark.
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When he returned to Arizona in the 1970s and bought the ranch, he told a Star reporter, "No one is ever going to pry me off this mountain." No one did.
Prichard was a horseman, ran cattle and worked as a trail guide, Mattausch said.
He is survived by four daughters: Ginger Ingalls, Cheryl Lasota, Robin Sanchez and Katherine Prichard. Another daughter, Desiree Prichard, died earlier, Lasota said.
She said a memorial service is planned for April 1 at 1 p.m. at the ranch.
