Roy Herburger was ‘larger than life’
In my first column with the Lodi News-Sentinel almost 2 1/2 years ago, I stated future columns would be expressed without using the words of me, I, I’m and myself. Today, I’m breaking that rule. On Feb. 12, 2003, I started my first day as Sports Editor at The Galt Herald. David Herburger, general manager of Herburger Publications, which owns the Herald and the Elk Grove Citizen, hired me the month prior. The office/plant is located in Galt, a mile away from Galt High.
Before, I worked as a reporter — sports/news — at the Patterson Irrigator, on the west side of Stanislaus County. After I started at the Herald, I commuted from Turlock to Galt before eventually finding an apartment here in Lodi.
I showed up some 20 minutes earlier than my actual 9 a.m. start time at the Herald, as I was anxious to get started at my new employer. David gave me a tour of the office and plant, and joked with me to pay attention because at the end of the tour there could be a quiz about it. I was certain I could answer questions about the location of the vending and soda/water machines.
The very last stop on our tour was the office of Roy Herburger, David’s father who was the owner and publisher of Herburger Publications. Roy copurchased the publication in 1959.
Roy stood up, shook my right hand and welcomed me to the office and plant. That would be the first of many conversations I had with Roy during my years at the Herald; from sports on the high school, collegiate and professional sports. We would also talk about some of the things that are going on in the world at that point in time and life.
Those talks during, and after my tenure at the Herald later the decade, resurfaced in my mind since March 4. That is when Roy died at age 87 due to effects from Parkinson’s Disease. David now owns Herburger Publications.
Anyone in Galt and Elk Grove areas who met and talked with Roy knew he was someone special. He was known to wear his camera around his neck, during my tenure. He was one of the kindest, most professional and humble man you would
ever meet.
Many sports editors and editors have come and gone through the doors at the plant, along with myself. John Williams is one of them, and has seen more of Roy’s personality than I did.
The Galt resident is the Sierra Valley Conference commissioner. He’s also the former Sac-Joaquin Section assistant commissioner, as he served in that role from 2001 until 2015. Williams worked as managing editor for the Herald, plus production manager at Herburger Publications for a combined 23 years. His first love was sports, as he played on the Galt High baseball teams in the early-mid 1970s.
“I did pretty much everything there except run the presses,” Williams joked.
During his tenures at Herburger Publications, Williams also witnessed the personable and professional sides of Roy. That included students and teachers from elementary schools visiting the office, where Roy gave tours of the plant.
“Roy loved giving tours,” Williams recalled. “I can recall school buses showing up and 30, 40 kids are getting off.”
Williams said there are two people who are instrumental in his professional career — Roy and retired section commissioner Pete Saco.
“Both are larger than life individuals,” said Williams of both men. “They were people that walked into the room, they knew their stuff. That’s like a piece of me that’s gone, although I haven’t been in the Herald for awhile. (Roy) was a friendly person, and wanted to do good. The fact that he was willing to hire me (first time in 1977) was very important to me.”
I know how David and his sisters Elizabeth, Vanessa and Leah, who uploaded web content onto the Herald and Citizen websites during my tenure, are feeling through with the loss of their father. My parents died toward the end of the 1990s. The major holidays such as Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s, Easter and the Fourth of July are different feelings without one or both of your parents not present in the first year. From the second year and moving forward, the pain shrinks.
One thing I know is my father and mother are in my mind, heart and soul from the time they left, and I think about them at some point each day. I’ve told that to people who have lost their parents since the late 1990s. David, Elizabeth, Vanessa and Leah, remember: Each of you will always have your father in your hearts, minds and souls every day for the rest of your lives.
A celebration of Roy’s life will take place at Roy Herburger Elementary School in Elk Grove on Saturday, March 24. The school is located at 8670 Maranello Drive. The celebration is scheduled to start at 11 a.m.