The Fall of Saturday’s Child

Gordon Aadland wrote his final column last week, though he didn’t know it at the time.

In the weeks prior, he had been pressing Centralia College to consider bringing two of its greatest musical talents — singer Angela Meade and pianist Charlie Albright — together for a concert.

Aadland, a columnist and unbridled supporter of Centralia College, had remained active, pressing his passions and sharing his words, until the very end.

The father, husband and community icon died Sunday night at Providence Centralia Hospital.

He was 92.

Aadland taught at Centralia College for 24 years as an English instructor, becoming the college’s first public information officer. He created the college’s Distinguished Alumnus Award and was honored in 2006 as the namesake of the college’s central walkway — the Aadland Esplanade.

During commencement ceremonies in June, he stood and waved to students as he received the college’s first Distinguished Lifetime Service Award.

In his 12 years producing a column for The Chronicle, he often melded his passion for writing and his love for Centralia College. Most recently, he suggested the creation of a statue to honor to founding educators — Margaret Corbet and Katherine Kemp — a vision that will soon come to fruition.

At the college, he was known as the unofficial adviser to college presidents, beginning with the first, Nels Hanson.

He remained active in that role till the end, said Centralia College President James Walton.

“He was certainly not afraid to share his ideas or thoughts with any of us,” Walton said Monday. “Those ideas and thoughts were always focused on his love for the college.”

Aadland enjoyed honoring the past, whether it be suggesting a new statue for the college or plugging the names of successful Centralia College alumni in “Saturday’s Child,” his weekly column in The Chronicle.

But he was also always looking toward the future, Walton said.

“He always had ideas,” Walton said. “He always had something cooking.”

Aadland came to the attention of The Chronicle about 12 years ago when he sent a letter to former Publisher Dennis R. Waller admonishing him for a policy that barred poems and Bible verses from the letters to the editor section.

Drawing on his past as a humor writer, Aadland struck a comedic tone that resonated with Waller.

“I just said, ‘I have to meet this guy,’” Waller said.

When Waller suggested he write a weekly column, Aadland worried he wouldn’t be able to muster enough topics.

That was never a problem.

Weaving community-focused pieces with others that focused on his years deployed during World War II and growing up in Sisseton, S.D., Aadland entertained Chronicle readers consistently.

He had a soft edge, Waller said, that allowed him to tackle controversial subjects without fallout from readers.

“He could say things and make a point without offending you,” Waller said.

Those qualities and more earned him the respect and admiration of Chronicle editors to follow. Michael Wagar, regional executive editor, said he always enjoyed Aadland’s weekly dispatches.

“His writing was always a pleasure to edit,” Wagar said. “Beyond that, Gordon was a real gentleman — the last of a certain kind of man. He will be missed.”

Former Chronicle Editor-in-Chief Brian Mittge developed a close friendship with Aadland during his years as a reporter and editor.

“Gordon was a storyteller from the old days,” Mittge said. “Maybe he learned that growing up in the hardscrabble Midwest prairie. He was able to tell his life's story again and again in the pages of The Chronicle and somehow make us all feel better each time we heard it. He kept alive the old-fashioned, once-common virtues that support any strong community. He whistled as he walked down the street, delighted in a fine poetic verse and cracked a joke whenever possible. Curious and quick-witted, he taught us all that the good life is here, in our community, if we just recognize and celebrate it together.”

Readers likewise developed an admiration for Aadland.

He wrote in a way that lifted the curtain on his long and interesting life, from his years growing up in Sisseton, S.D., to his time working with lifelong friend and USA Today founder Al Neuharth, to the neighborhood children on K Street in Centralia.

Only two weeks ago, he relived his career as a columnist in a submission titled “Chronicle Columnist Back on the Payroll,” which came after a brief absence due to growing medical concerns.

“It started when I was a high schooler on the plains of Dakota,” Aadland wrote. “I was told to write a humor column under the inherited title of ‘Over the Back Fence.’ It was mostly gossip, things like, ‘Which freshman girl with the initials of L.S. was seen to go into the theater with THREE senior boys last night?’ I blush in remembrance.”

He became hooked on writing, he said, after a classmate told him he recognized him from his name in the newspaper.

After a stint serving in World War II, Aadland returned to his home state, where he attended the University of South Dakota using funds from the GI Bill.

The editor of the student newspaper was Neuharth, and Aadland began writing a column called “Tough All Over,” a subtitle he borrowed from Time magazine.

The two sparked a lifelong friendship, one that Aadland was proud to drop unabashedly for decades. After college, Neuharth started a weekly sports newspaper named SoDak Sports, and convinced Aadland, an English teacher, to write his humor column there.

“That little newspaper lasted for three years,” Aadland wrote. “Then Al took off for Florida, his tail between his legs but with his coat tails always available for me to grab onto. I came to the Northwest, where Denny Waller, then publisher of The Chronicle, let me start the long and ignoble experiment with ‘Saturday’s Child.’”

Neuharth died about six months ago, having, like Aadland, continued writing a column until his death.

Aadland had served as a member of the Al Neuharth Media Center board of directors at the University of South Dakota since its inception 25 years ago.

He’d often return to the state for homecomings and other university events.

“We’ve lost a great man and a treasured friend,” said Jack Marsh, president of the Al Neuharth Media Center. “We’ll miss Gordon deeply.”

Aadland was carrying out his normal duties, writing a column and doing his dishes Sunday. He lived in Centralia with his wife, Carolyn, and daughter, Carrie.

He was on hospice, and had recently been diagnosed with cancer in his bone marrow, but he was feeling no pain, said Carrie Aadland, his daughter.

He fell while walking across a room, she said, and lost consciousness. He was revived and taken to Providence Centralia Hospital, where he eventually died.

"He looked so peaceful last night as he passed,” Carrie Aadland said. “He wanted to do that. I think we all do."

Aadland was one of six children. All of his siblings died at least 10 years before her father, she said.

"He made an intentional decision that Centralia would be his family,” Carrie Aadland said. “That’s how he lived."

Aadland, never afraid of self-promotion, had recently pressed for the expansion of the Aadland Esplanade at Centralia College, Carrie Aadland said. He was also continuing to write his column, ever-aware of the “ol’ ladies in sensible shoes and men who would part their hair if they still could,” terms of endearment he used to describe his readers.

Carrie Aadland said it was “extraordinary” that at 92, her father still brought home a paycheck.

It was his love of The Chronicle and Centralia College that kept him pressing forward as he continued to be active at both until his death Sunday.

"He just thought he had the best life in the world,” Carrie Aadland said. “He was just pleased every minute."