William
Glasmann Jr.1918-2007
The hot metal type days of newspaper composing weren't kind to William W. Glasmann Jr.'s business suits.
The ink was always on his clothes. And if you ask his son, it was in his blood, too.
"He was in love with it," Bill Glasmann III said.
The elder Glasmann was so good he could "hang" the Merganthaler Linotype machine, which meant "he could type the lines of type so fast that he'd have to wait for the machine to process them and catch up with him," his son said.
After a five-year battle with Alzheimer's disease, Glasmann died Friday at the age of 88 with "grace and dignity" his son said.
Glasmann, who started selling papers at railroad stations and throwing them on the porches of Ogden homes as a young boy, eventually rose to foreman, then production manager and vice president of the Ogden Standard-Examiner, where he worked until his retirement in 1980.
Under his tutelage, the daily newspaper never missed a single press run, his son said. His mechanical prowess not only kept the printing machines running, but allowed him to make them even better and more efficient than they were designed.
Glasmann's page cost was so low, in fact, that larger newspapers such as the Chicago Sun-Times, the Kansas City Star and the Hearst Corporation courted him for his services. But Glasmann remained loyal to the Ogden Standard-Examiner, which his grandfather bought in 1894 after his plans to build a new town on the south shore of the Great Salt Lake failed.
His love for his work, which often kept him from home on the weekends and holidays, was second only to that which he felt for his wife, Elizabeth, and children Bill and Roderick, his son said.
"What I call him is an icon of 'the Greatest Generation,'" the younger Glasmann said. "He showed a lot of humility. He was very strong. You understood when you were in his presence there was no nonsense, but he was gentle."
Phidia Cutrubus, a friend of Glasmann's, said his friend did a "hell of a job down there [the newspaper] for many, many years. I don't think there is anybody in his family, anybody he touched, who didn't like Bill. He was just a very, very warm person."
Educated in the Ogden school system, Glasmann graduated from Palo Alto High School and then went on to Weber College and Utah State University, where he boxed, played football and was a member of the Sigma Nu Fraternity, his son said.
Glasmann returned home from school to work at the Ogden Standard-Examiner during a newspaper strike. He would later join the Newspaper Union himself.
In 1941, Glasmann married Elizabeth and less than a year later joined the Army Air Corp.
He spent his service years in the "Air Offensive Europe" during World War II, for which he was awarded the EAME Ribbon with one bronze star, and the World War II Victory Medal, according to his obituary. He was trained as a tail gunner on B-29s and was sent to Greenland, where he survived a torpedo attack.
In addition to his work at the Ogden Standard-Examiner, Glasmann was president and part-owner of the Standard Buildings, the Standard-Examiner Publisher Building, the Kearns and Daines buildings in Salt Lake City and Examiner Realty, according to his obituary.
Glasmann was civic-minded and participated in many community events and organizations, said his son, who worked alongside his father at the Ogden Standard-Examiner for 20 years before pursuing other business interests. The younger Glasmann said his father taught him "to do things right, be honest in what you do, work hard at your achievements - don't expect to be given anything, and earn and give back to the community."
In his retirement years, Glasmann especially loved traveling around the world with his wife and listening to her play the piano. And he had a "special twinkle in his eye for his granddaughter and grandson," his son said.
Glasmann is survived by his wife and Bill Glasmann III, two grandchildren, two great-grandchildren, two stepgreat-grandchildren, and a brother and two sisters.
Services will be 1 p.m. Tuesday at Lindquist's Ogden Mortuary at 3408 Washington Blvd. Friends may call at the mortuary from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. today and from 11:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. Tuesday.
Interment is at Lindquist's Washington Heights Memorial Park at 4500 Washington Blvd., where military honors will be accorded.
lrosetta@sltrib.com
