University of Akron - Tel Buch Yearbook (Akron, OH)

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Ilnhn Eiirhzirhr- murlitvl OHN R. BUCHTEL, after whom Buchtel College was named, is often called its founder, and his birthday anniversary is selected as a date for the celebrating of Founderts Day. He may not be the nominal founder, but he was an essential factor in its founding and early history. QI His first gift of sixty thousand dollars looks small compared with the hundreds of thousands that have been given to educational interests in these recent years, but Mr. Buchtel gave, year after year, until he contributed all he had+nearly half a million. QI After Mr. Buchtel took upon his broad shoulders the task of carrying the financial burden of the college, he never laid it down. He bought and sold and Worked and worried, that means might How to the college. No one can realize the financial burden he carried through the panic of '73 and the following years. After he became manager of the large iron interests in the Hocking Valley, he was away from the home he loved nearly all the time-and it all was a sacrifice of his comfort for the sake of college. ill Mr. Buchtel had energy plus-when any great physical task loomed in sight, whether it was to clear a forest, build a great factory or raise an endowment, Mr. Buchtel was chosen to lead the forces, and he won out. 111 He was a large man, with a big head which he car- ried slightly bent forward, as though he were accustomed to go against resistances. QI His active personality made his presence felt. When he entered a company, it was whispered about that Mr, Buchtel had come ! while a small man was hardly noticed. He was not one with the polish of the schools : he used to say that he graduated from Brush Univer- sity, referring to his early work in clearing timber land. He made one think of rugged strength. Says Emerson, The Greeks thought they explained the character of Ulysses when they said, 'He was born in craggy Ithaca !' He loved young people and called the col- lege students his boys and girls, and, not having children of his own, his home was always filled with students whom he was helping through college. ln that broad breast, he bore a great heart full of tenderness and

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JOHN R. BUCHTEL

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sympathy. Gruff and short he might be to his work- men, on occasion, but with a child he was tender as a woman. ill At college commencements, he always sat upon the platform and, as the graduates gave their orations, his face showed the play of his feelings. One could see his emotions rise until they were beyond control: his lips would quiver, his eyes Hll with tears and his great frame break into sobs, like a girl's. But he saw visions no other eyes could see. As a tall, sweet girl gradu- ate, beautiful in her white robes, stood before him, reading in clear, firm tones her graduating essay, he looked back years earlier, and saw an awkward, bare- foot girl, with coarse dress, helping with the rough work on the farm. He remembered how her eyes bright- ened and her ambition was aroused by his promise to see her through college, if she would try it, and here she was now with a queen's grace and the power to hold a great audience spellbound. Ah, these trans- formations of student life which teachers see now and then !-the thought of them brings a lump into the throat and tears to the eyes of the most stolid. ill Mr. Buchtel took very little recreation in the last years of his life. Like most great natures, he was fond of dogs and horses and hunting. He never made any parade, or show, always dressing plainly-he who might have worn cloth of gold. He bore cheerfully the great calamity which finally came upon him- paralysis. At the last he, who had always helped others, had to depend upon someone for every movement he made. W 'N