Arlington farmer was civic-minded

8/21/2003

ARLINGTON, Ohio - Harold Hartman, a former Madison Township trustee and chairman of the Hancock County Trustees and Clerks Association, died Tuesday in the Birchaven Retirement Village, Findlay. He was 83.

Mr. Hartman died of brain cancer, family members said.

Farming was Mr. Hartman's first love, but he eventually became involved in many groups in the Arlington community.

From the late 1960s to the early 1980s, he served as a Madison Township trustee.

During the blizzard of 1978, he and his son Daniel worked for three days to plow the roads and dig people out of their houses.

“We didn't do anything more than anyone else would have,” his son said.

Mr. Hartman also was elected chairman of the Hancock County Trustees and Clerks Association.

Born July 7, 1920 near, Dola, Ohio to William and Sofia Hartman, he started out as a tenant daily farmer near Findlay. But when World War II began, he sold his farm equipment and joined the Army. He was stationed in Florida and worked as a training instructor. He attained the rank of sergeant.

After the war, Mr. Hartman worked at his brother's hardware store in Arlington until 1950 when he started farming again. He worked at Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. in Findlay to help pay for the farm where he grew corn, soybeans, and wheat.

He retired from farming in 1982, but still enjoyed helping his sons with farm work.

“He wasn't much for sitting around,” his son Mark said.

In 1957, he started working for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He worked in auditing and loss adjustment for the Federal Crop Insurance program. He eventually became assistant state director of the program about 1975. He worked for the USDA until about 1992.

He also was a member of the Ohio Highway Patrol auxiliary, American Legion Post 621, the Odd Fellows Lodge, and the Good Hope Lutheran Church.

Surviving are his wife, Doratha; daughter, Carolyn Walters; sons, Daniel and Mark; sister, Marie Andrews; eight grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren.

The body will be in Crates Funeral Home, Arlington, after 2 p.m. tomorrow. Services will be at 11 a.m. Saturday in Good Hope Lutheran Church, Arlington. The family suggests tributes to the church or to a charity of the donor's choice.