It seems the longer I do this job, the more obituaries I print of people who meant something to me.
That is the case again this week with the passing of my friend Alvin Hartman.
He died last week at the age of 97.
Alvin was a longtime newspaper man at the Muenster Enterprise.
He and I worked together there for several years.
Alvin began working there in 1946.
Last summer, the Texas Press Association honored him for 78 years in the business.
I was thrilled to have been the one to nominate him for the award.
I was moved to share Alvin’s obituary here in Whitesboro this week because folks knew him here too. Folks all over Texas knew Alvin Hartman. He was one of a kind.
I admit the obituary found in this paper is only about a third of the length of his full obituary. You can read the full-length one in this week’s Muenster Enterprise.
I’ve written about Alvin before.
In February of last year, I wrote about Alvin’s inspiration to keep moving and always be busy.
You can find that column in the archives of our website www.whitesboronewsrecord.com
In the wake of his passing, I am reminded of many lessons Alvin taught me.
I’ll never forget late one night. I was struggling with a print job on a used press in Muenster.
It was after midnight. It was a big job.
We were behind deadline and the machine was not cooperating.
Alvin surprised me when he walked in the door.
He lived around the corner.
He had pulled on some blue jeans and a t-shirt, and stumbled in saying, “What are you doing? I just woke up and saw the light on over here— needed to check it out. I didn’t know you were still working.”
I explained my frustrations with the task at hand.
I was ready to give up. The machine was not working. The technology was not right.
I told him how much trouble I was having.
At the time, Alvin still ran some print jobs for us on an old Heidelberg press.
He didn’t know how to run my modern machine, and I did not know how to run his Heidelberg.
But I figured he could relate to the frustrations of a pressman, and he might have some sympathy for he me.
He did not.
After I was done venting, he just chuckled and said, “Well, figure it out. It’s gonna take a little time. I didn’t know how to run the Heidelberg overnight. I had to learn. I had to be patient.
Sounds like you need to do the same thing. Just slow down. Take your time and do it right. You’ll figure it out.”
He chuckled again, turned and walked out the door.
I sat there for a minute and thought about what the old man said. I realized he was absolutely right.
I slowed down. I checked my points.
I got the job done before the sun came up and we got it to the customer on time.
But, in the process, Alvin reminded me that all things worth doing are worth doing right.
Sometimes doing things right means slowing down and figuring it out.
That’s one of the many things Alvin Hartman taught me.
I’m a better person for having known him. He was the salt of the earth— family man, church man, community man, newspaper man.
I will miss my friend. Godspeed, sir.
Austin Lewter is the owner and publisher of the Whitesboro News-Record. He can be reached at [email protected]