Fitting Goodbye

FORT WORTH, TEXAS | When Dan Jenkins became only the third sportswriter inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame, he proudly noted he joined two other Fort Worth natives – Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson, a Texas duo who mastered golf clubs the way Dan controlled a keyboard. On Friday, at Christ Chapel Bible Church in his beloved hometown, friends and family said so long to His Ownself, who on March 7 reunited with Hogan and Nelson at the age of 90.

Jenkins' story ended where it began, in the once rough-and-tumble cow town that always has proudly lived in the shadow of Dallas. This was where he was born, raised, went to high school, college and got his first writing job (at The Fort Worth Press) while still a teenager. On a bright, sunny day, as more than a thousand people crowded into church to pay their respects, the flags at Texas Christian University and Colonial Country Club were at half-staff, honoring their native son.

Among those on hand were at least two generations of sportswriters inspired by Jenkins. He was, said Dr. Ted...