Walter Lee Hartenberger

I first met Walt when he was a graduate student at the University of North Dakota working on his Educational Specialist Degree and I was his research and statistics prof. He was creative and goal oriented student. Our paths crossed again in Portland, OR where we both were a part of the Small Schools Program at the Northwest Regional Education Laboratory. For a number of years we travelled the Northwest doing research and development work with small, mostly rural schools. Walt and I had many adventures travelling by small plane, and four wheeling in the backcountry of Alaska and Montana. We met bear face to face; developed programs for the Athabasca Indians, trained school administrators and school boards, and narrowly escaped from a burning plane near Pullman. Walt’s favorite question for a bush pilot was, “How many times have you crashed?” His theory was if they survived they were good pilots. I always immediately asked the pilot how to get out of the plane in an emergency, and in the Pullman incident it was what got us out alive as our plane burst into flame immediately after the pilot turned on the ignition. On one Alaska trip Walt and I brought back some caribou meat and Mary and Irene planned a potlatch for the entire lab. We also brought back live king crab and raced them down the aisles of the plane. Travelling with Walt was always unpredictable and fun. He met people easily, loved to challenge school administrators and school boards with confrontational ideas, but he knew where he was going with it. He was an excellent trainer. We spent many delightful times with Walt and Mary and once took our families camping near Lake Christina in Canada as he and I put on a workshop for their school. They camped in our back yard in Lake Oswego until they could find housing after their year of travel. They have been wonderful friends over a lifetime. We will miss Walt, but he will always live in our memories. Our love to you all – Chet and Irene Hausken

I will always remember the fun times we had camping at Sand Lake, snowmobiling in Ukiah, visiting us in Arizona and camping on the Verdi River, being a fun Grandpa for the kids, and the great times we had around the kitchen table.  You truly had a gift of connecting with people, and always posed questions which made you think.  I love you, and miss you.

 

(By the way, you definately earned an A+).

Just who was that guy that called me "Susie"!!My friend Bruce introduced me to the Hartenbergers and the unique gatherings around their kitchen table. With lots of coffee. No topic was too silly or unusual. The stories flowed. I think Fritz was delighted to have a fresh ear to which to tell his tall tales. And then I found out most were true. And occcasionally now I seek people I wouldnt ordinarily talk to or start a conversation about some crazy topic or look for a unique way to make personal contact with a patient...because their was a man in my memory who would have made the most of those opportunities. And I found my husband and life long match right next door to Hartenbergers. I met him at their kitchen table. So thanks Fritz, for everything.

Love "Susie".

"No, no, no...that's not how you ask for candy," Grandpa would say. "Ya gotta lay on your back and kick your feet! Make sure to scream really loud! Your mommy loves that." Haha, Grandpa was right, too. Mom LOVED the new tactics he was always teaching us. And that's just it; he was always teaching. Everything he had to say got you thinking in some way. Even if it was just one of his "silly Fritz quotes", it had such a deeper meaning when you thought back on it later. To tell the truth, I really feel for the people who didn't have the honor of knowing him...because for me, just knowing that there are such amazing people like him in this world is very comforting. But the fact that an amazing person like him is part of my family makes me truly blessed. God blesses us all in many ways, and he is proof of that. "To laugh often and much, to earn the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children, to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends, to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch...to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded!" ~Emerson~ Grandpa, you have indeed succeeded.

AHHH! 42 years of memories with Fritz.  Seems as if a Synopsis is in order.  So here we go....  digging deck footing holes, cleaning the garage, hanging out in your garage after you blew it up, trips to the beach in the old VW micro bus, riding your super 90, tacking cups up on the ceiling of the Tippecanoe house - lots of cups, hot tubbing in the snow while watching Saturday Night Live, the first ride in your Cadillac, cruising in the Boston Whaler, borrowing the camper with Brett for a trip to the beach (with girls), puttin' the 289 in the pink jeep, playing darts in your atrium, rebuilding my Honda in your garage, your crazy floor that made you sweat when you lay down on it, bumper pool in the evenings, fine wooden models, brandy, the Saab, sweeping the garage so Brett could go riding after school (see also footing digging, cleaning garage, and any other chores he could find to ransom my riding buddy), giving away the bride at my wedding (you had class Fritz), spot inspections of the tree house, camping at Sandlake, learning to reload, cruising the dunes in the pink jeep(with a 289), the 10/22, the terrific looking nude you painted on the bathroom window (who was that now?), driving slow, the old Falcon with the blown motor (best Christmas present Brett ever got, except maybe that mystery sand tire), the Martini, your great chain saw sculptures, sired my best friend, and just being a fun guy to hang out with.

 

Put in a good word for me,  Bruce