Veteran Oklahoma journalist Ed Montgomery died Tuesday at Norman Regional Hospital after a brief illness.

Montgomery, 91, was retired from both The Norman Transcript where he wrote editorials and a weekly Oklahoma history column and The Daily Oklahoman where he served as chief of the newspaper's Capitol Bureau for many years.

A memorial service will be held at a later date.

A native of Missouri, Montgomery graduated from the University of Missouri in 1940 with a degree in journalism.

His first job was at the Shelby County Herald in Missouri. His career interrupted by World War II, Montgomery served as a bombardier and navigator. At the war's end, he traveled to Oklahoma working for newspapers in Bartlesville, Clinton and Norman.

Except for service during World War II, he worked as a newspaper journalist his entire adult life. He was an accomplished Western fiction writer, having sold many magazine stories.

From 1950 to 1981, he served on the staff of The Daily Oklahoman, The Oklahoma City Times and The Farmer Stockman. During his tenure at The Oklahoman, he covered the state legislature, serving as the head of the Oklahoman's Capitol bureau.

"He was one of the most honest, ethical and humble journalists I have ever known," said Andy Rieger, managing editor of The Transcript.

"Except for the land run and statehood, most of what has happened that's newsworthy in the history of Oklahoma came on Ed's watch," Rieger said.

Montgomery was a longtime writer and actor for the Oklahoma City Gridiron Club's annual political satire, skewering local and national newsmakers.

Following his retirement from The Oklahoman, he worked as a columnist and editorial writer for The Norman Transcript and a columnist for the Oklahoma Press Association's Capitol News Bureau.

He also has written for the Saturday Evening Post and Argosy.

In 1986, Montgomery was inducted into the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame.

In 1991, he received the OPA's Beachy Musselman Award for his contributions to the field of journalism. He is survived by his wife, Connie, of the home in Norman. He was preceded in death by a son and a daughter.