Wayne Lyford fell in love with printing and newspapers as a 12-year-old earning a Boy Scout merit badge in the 1930s.

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After college, Lyford began his journalism career at the Madrid Register News in Iowa. Shortly after, in 1950, the Army called upon him to serve in the Korean War. Overseas, he became a war correspondent, writing stories about soldiers for publication in their hometown newspapers. He received a commendation award for meritorious service for overseas reporting from the Army. After his war service, Lyford returned to his job at the Register News. In the mid-1950s, he accepted a job at the Brookings Register.

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In the mid-1960s, he became owner of the Flandreau newspaper, where his wife Dorothy worked alongside him as bookkeeper and assisted with society news and proofreading. Lyford retired from the paper in 1987.

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