Journalist. Santa Claus. Volunteer. Friend. Holmanite. Cancer survivor. Uncle Bill. City Council member. Bill Shrum never met a stranger in his 75 years of life.
“He had a remarkable gift for making young people feel seen, valued, and celebrated,” wrote Cindy Phillips in the DeWitt Era-Enterprise after Shrum’s passing.
Her words were just a few his many friends published after Shrum died Feb. 23, 2026, following a week in the hospital in Little Rock. He seemed to be recovering from injuries he experienced after an accident while crossing the street in Stuttgart on his way to a pancake supper, but friends suspect he missed his mama. Maranda Shrum, who had accompanied her son to Arkansas Press Women events decades ago, passed away in October 2025 at the age of 95.
APW will celebrate Bill Shrum on May 30 at its annual awards luncheon and asks attendees to consider donating to his high school scholarship for Stuttgart seniors. A lifelong writer who faced down bullies early in his life, Shrum started his own scholarship in 2016 for local high school students to boost their self esteem and college prospects. He personally funded the scholarship, known as the Bill Shrum Journalism Scholarship.
Shrum was a reporter for the Stuttgart Daily Leader for 17 years. He told people it was his dream job after graduating with a journalism degree from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 2001. In his obituary, he wrote that he discovered his love for writing at age eight. That love continued for the rest of his life. Shrum wrote five books, including poetry, short story fiction, and more recently a book of fiction spanning 1860-2002.
He served as APW’s southeast director after joining the organization in 2001 and helped plan APW’s 60th Anniversary celebration in Stuttgart in June 2009.
In addition to his writing, he was well known around Stuttgart for volunteering. He also worked at a local gas station and in the photo lab at Walmart, making friends everywhere he went.
Eplunus Brooks Colvin, who attended Shrum’s funeral in March, wrote afterwards on Facebook that, “He probably would’ve checked his watch and told us we still spent five minutes too long talking about him, but for a man who gave us so much, every second was worth it.”