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"Mr. Hartsough--Business. Born in Indiana . . . received B.A. at Occidental . . . highlights of his travels have been trips to Australia, New Ghinea, Philippines, Europe . . . hobbies are golf, reading." - 1958 Copa de Oro
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Harold Vincent Hartsough died February 24, 2009. He was born on September 30, 1921 in Indianapolis, Indiana. His father was a Presbyterian minister, which enabled Harold to live in many different parts of the United States as a youth, which included South Pasadena, his favorite.
Harold began his college education at Occidental College until he was called to serve in the South Pacific for the U.S. Army during World War II.
Upon the war's conclusion, Harold received his B.A. from Occidental and went on to receive his Master's degree from the University of California at Berkeley. He began his teaching career in Elk Grove, California and then came to South Pasadena High School where he took over the Business department. While attending Calvary Presbyterian Church, Harold met and married Clara Stevenson in 1954 and had two children, Daniel and Susan. He continued his career as a counselor and retired from SPHS as the Assistant Principal after 28 years.
Harold Hartsough was a dedicated member of Calvary Presbyterian Church for over 55 years where he cultivated many close and fulfilling friendships. He especially loved working on and giving to various Mission and youth projects, which included Angel Interfatih Network.
During his lifetime, Harold made a difference in the lives of many young people through his love of education and his dedication to the church.
He is survived by his wife, Clara Hartsough, his daughter, Susan Fleming, his son Daniel and his wife, Karen, and two grandchildren. He is also survived by his two sisters, Ruth Meck and Mary Lou Franck, and many loving nieces and nephews.
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Candice Bond (Solomon) (1974)
I have many memories of Mr. Harold Hartsough... He was a pillar of strength at SPHS and touched my life as well as the lives of all of my siblings. One of my fondest memories was when he would get confused as to which "Bond" I was. He would run down the names of all of the Bonds before finally asking, "which one are you?" He finally resorted to calling all of the Bond girls "Miss Bond"...Mr. Hartsough was always there, willing to listen to whatever you had to say, guide you in the right direction and lend a hand when you needed it. He even had a few "suggestions" for harmless pranks when April Fool's Day rolled around. All in all, Mr. Hartsough truly cared about his students. It was a privilege to know him and I will be forever grateful for his guidance throughout my years at SPHS.
Jennifer Hartzell (1963)
I remember how patient Mr. Hartsough was with my clear inability to make correct change when selling tickets to SPHS football games. I and a classmate would be in the ticket booth on our own until well after the games started. Then Mr. Hartsough would come to collect the proceeds and determine how much work he'd have in reconciling the number sold with the revenue gathered. Perhaps he knew that we'd probably make as much as we lost in our miscalculations.James Tomlin (1961)
A Great CounselorIn third week of February, 1961 I was anxiously anticipating my 17th birthday. I was young for my class, having entered school in 1948 at the age of 4 ½. At that time in my life, my focus was chiefly on athletics. Although I was not an important member of the football and basketball teams, I did play some. I was better at track and field. Our last basketball game of the season, against arch rival San Marino was on the schedule for Friday. I was surprised when I was called out of class by my counselor, Mr. Harold Hartsough. I reached the front office with some trepidation, because usually being called to the office meant some kind of discipline. I knew I hadn’t done anything wrong, but what might I be getting blamed for? The conversation went like this.....
“Hello Jimmy.”
“Hello Mr. Hartsough.”
There followed some small talk about basketball, the possibility of beating San Marino and the upcoming track season. Finally....
“Jim, are you going to college next year?”
“Yes Mr. Hartsough.”
It is appropriate here to say that I was in almost total denial about “next year.” It was such a enormous unknown that I simply chose not to think about it. None of the significant adults in my family had attended college so there was no pressure from that end, and my friends seemed to have as little sense of what they might do after high school as I did. I guess we just enjoyed being teenagers. Our parent were from the generation that had survived both the greatest war and the greatest depression that the country had ever seen, and they seemed reluctant to put much pressure on us to decide right now, today what we were going to do with our lives. My vague ideas about college had me deciding where I wanted to go and enrolling, perhaps sometime in July.
As far as my grades went, I studied just enough to get Bs. Occasionally I overdid it and got an A, but no Cs graced my report cards.
“Well have you taken the SAT?”
“Sure Mr. Hartsough, we took that last year.”
“Jim that was the PSAT. It’s the National Merit Exam. You have to take the SAT, it’s the college entrance exam.”
“Oh. Well how'd I do?”
“Very well actually. Jim, There’s an SAT exam this Saturday in Arcadia. I can get you a seat for the exam and you’ll have to bring a check to the testing center.”
“OK.”
“Have you thought about where you might want to go?”
“Not really. Occidental maybe.” Occidental was a small local college. I knew about it only because my Middle League Baseball Coach had attended. And their mascot was a Tiger.
“Have you applied?”
“Well.... No.”
“Jim, its February, we have to get you on track. College Night is in three weeks. That will give you an idea of your choices. But all this needs to be done soon.”
“Yes Sir.”
And so we did. I attended College Night, and filled out a card for the University of Redlands, largely because they had been in the paper because of a track meet. Hey, I can compete there.
Within a week I received a call from the track coach. He said he would like to coach me and that he would be watching for my results. I never considered another school, and my four years of study and varsity athletics at the University of Redlands prepared me well for a career in teaching and coaching. A modest scholarship and several campus jobs enabled my family to avoid going into debt. I graduated in four years in 1965, taught school and coached for 41 years.
Thanks Mr. Hartsough for getting me on track.
Forrest Allen (1957)
Hal was not only an inspiration to me and I'm certain to many others, but a personal friend to me and my brother and sister in law Roger and Dorothy Allen.Dorothy and I will miss him. I'm sure my late brother would as well.
Thanks Hal for every inspiring moment.
Rudy Medal (1972)
I remember the time when I was sent to Mr. Hartsough for having been in the only fist fight that year in High School. When I walked into his office he just shook his head and smiled, that was it. I never had another fight after that. I felt I had let him down. He was a very special person, I will always remember him and his kindness to students.Patrick Norman McVey (1983)
Mr. Hartsough was a good man. When I was in school, I was a holy terror. Whenever I got in a fight or did something stupid, he would always tell me that I was better than my actions.
He was a leader in our church who used to help our youth group when we would go to Mexico and work in an orphanage.
I am blessed to have had him as a mentor.
Marit 'Connie' Smith (Federcell) (1966)
If not for Mr. Hartsough, I would never have made it through SPHS.
He was unfailingly kind and compassionate.
RIP, dear Counselor, and thank you.
Geoffrey P McCloud (1964)
To the Hartsough family, please know that your husband and father made a tremendous impact on the lives of his students at SPHS. He always treated me with respect and dignity and gave me good counsel when situations would arise. He was a great listener and wanted only the very best for us. I remember him fondly. I continue to work on being more like him. Rest now, Mr. Hartsough, you've earned it and thank you for being in my life.
Geoff McCloud. Class of 1964
Mark Tanner (1972)
Mr. Hartsough was a wonderful school counselor and a great and caring person. He always seem to have tme for me whenever I needed to counsel with him about college. All of my older siblings had attended BYU, and I did not want to follow them there. For 17 years, I had always had teachers that had already taught them.
Mr. Harsough and I worked out a plan to apply to Stanford, Harvard and Berkeley. I decided to attend Stanford which was a perfect place for me (and I met my wife Ann, who grew up in La Canada there). So many years later I still remember Mr. Hartsough with fondness and gratitude.
Betty Korner (Docken) (1956)
Mr. Hartsough was my business teacher, typing, shorthand, and general business, When I was a senior in 1956, and was applying for clerical/ secretarial work, he recommended me to a new consultant in business education, Dorothy Ford, Los Angeles County Schools Office, She had just joined that office as Consultant, Business and Distributive Education, which also was a new position for that office. She wanted someone who took shorthand, and I was lucky enough to get the position, She was a wonderful person, and developed conferences for business students and business teachers. Am so thankful, Mr. Hartsough recommended me to her. He was a great teacher and person.