Today, Public Employees Local 71 Alaska Laborers mourns the loss of our Brother, Lennie Hartman.
Brother Hartman was a true example of the Alaskan dream. He inspired and mentored so many Alaskans to know the rewarding value of an honest days work for honest pay during his time with our union. Lennie advocated regularly for the young men and women he met to plan their future through honest labor. He was well respected by his supervisors and subordinates alike and he always conveyed how seriously he took the responsibility of supervising others.
The link to his Legacy obituary can be found here, and reads:
LaVerne (Lennie) Hartman passed away on Feb. 26, 2021, after a brief battle with COVID-19 at MatSu Regional Hospital, Alaska.
A celebration of life will be held later in 2021 at Kenny Lake Chapel cemetery in the Copper River Valley.
Mr. Hartman was born on July 28, 1935, in Millersville, Pennsylvania. He joined the Air Force in 1955 and attended school after basic training in Biloxi, Mississippi, to become an Airborne electronics repairman. While in Mississippi, he met his wife of 65 years, Thelma Donahoe.
They married in June 1955. He was stationed at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage, Alaska. After being honorably discharged from the Air Force Reserves in 1962, he held a variety of jobs until he was hired by the state of Alaska, Department of Transportation, as a heavy equipment operator in 1972. He worked at the Thompson Pass, Ernestine, Chitina and Deadhorse airport stations, retiring in 1990 as the airport manager.
They homesteaded in the Copper River Valley in 1963 and raised four children, then moved to Fairbanks in 1983. They lived in Anchorage from 1990 to 2005. Moving to North Pole, they lived there until 2019. Lennie attended Alaska Bible College and graduated with a Bachelor's of Christian education and was ordained in 1971. He earned his Master's Degree in servant leadership from Azusa Pacific in 2002.
He is survived by his wife Thelma, son, Michael, and daughter, Lara, and nine grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. He was proceeded in death by two of his children, LaVerne Jr. (Buddy) Hartman and Peggy Hartman.
To Plant Memorial Trees in memory, please visit our Sympathy Store. (Published in Daily News-Miner on Mar. 3, 2021.)
Please take a moment today, to remember Lennie Hartman with us, as we all reflect on the next generation of Alaska Laborers and public employees.
