Fred Bartle

Father's Hat: Percy L. Bartle (1889-1983) Fred Bartle

Father's Hat is the true story of a man who lived from 1889-1983, and who remains an inspiration to his descendants today. Why read his story? Because when very young, he had assumed extra responsibilities because he had no father. When older, he learned to enjoy work. He fell in love with a German-American lady in a time of anti-German hysteria. He proved himself a brave soldier without yielding an iconoclastic sense of his individuality. He and his wife raised a family that guaranteed his continuity. He demonstrated again and again that the only way to measure a person was to measure that person, and only that person. He demonstrated how to grow old with satisfaction and joy. He understood the values of truth and loyalty. Not a great man, he was a good man. When a person has lived a long, joyous, productive life, there is reason to care because there is reason to honor with imitation.