ANTHONY LANE Star-Tribune staff writer | Posted: Thursday, January 13, 2005 12:00 am
Friends and family members spoke Wednesday about the decades in which Arthur "Irving" Garbutt recorded local history, tended his garden and contributed to the Casper community.
"It's one thing to live that long," said Dale Bohren, publisher of the Casper Journal. "It's another to remember."
Garbutt died Tuesday at Wyoming Medical Center. He was 95.
Garbutt's observations and memories of life in Casper are recorded in countless newspapers and in two books. He started as a reporter in 1934, working for the morning and afternoon newspapers that combined years ago to become the Casper Star-Tribune. His columns appeared in the Casper Journal as recently as last year.
Garbutt's second book, "I Was There. Recollections of Ten Decades," was published in 2003 by the Casper Journal. In it he describes life in Casper as the economy slowed even before the Great Depression started in 1929. He writes of his newspaper work that was interrupted when he joined the 115th Cavalry in 1941 and left to fight in World War II.
Born Dec. 31, 1909, Garbutt moved to Casper with his family in 1917. Bohren said this familiarity with the area, combined with strong writing abilities, helped make the column he wrote for the Casper Journal its most popular for many years.
"He had a real perspective," Bohren said. "He just had a way to phrase things."
Family members and former colleagues remember Garbutt's involvement in "The Grouch" cartoon that has graced the pages of this newspaper for decades.
"He was very good at writing grouches," said Tom Sutherland, a long-time Casper Star Tribune editor and reporter. "He had a talent."
Larry Nicholson and Lucy Milham spoke of a day when their father posed them next to a prominent Casper pothole along with an image of "The Grouch." Nicholson said the lightly chiding messages conveyed by that grouch and others since were reflective of a desire to see things get done in his community.
"If the paper grouched about it, he thought, the politicians would see it and do something about it," Nicholson said.
Garbutt retired from the Star-Tribune in 1975. Afterward, he remained active as a writer and as a gardener. He started participating in the Natrona County Master Gardener program in its early years, subsequently volunteering to help other residents with their gardening problems and helping to organize local events.
"He was always such a vital person," said Virginia Mathisen, a member of the county's first master gardener class in the early 1980s.
Although his health worsened last fall, daughter Lucy Milham said, he was still intent on his garden as late as last month, when he started selecting seeds for the coming season.
Garbutt is survived by five sons, four daughters, one brother, one sister and many other family members. A complete obituary will appear in the Star-Tribune in coming days.
Reporter Anthony Lane can be reached at (307) 266-0593 or anthony.lane@casperstartribune.net.