When asked about his father, Jack Harvey, Joseph Harvey said, "I'm extraordinarily proud of him and what he has done." On April 1, Jack reached a milestone few ever will see: 55 years working at Hoffner, Fisher & Harvey, 508 N. 36th St. ANOTHER GENERATION OF HARVEYSJack began as an employee there in 1953, when the funeral home was called Hoffner's Fisher-Kalfus. In 1968 Jack began buying a partnership in the business, a process finalized coincidentally on April 1, 1973.Jack admitted he might have sold the business years ago if his sons hadn't come to work with him. Throughout their lives he insists he refrained from placing expectations or demands on any of his six children to follow him into the business. That two of his sons, Thomas and Joseph - after years spent on other career paths - decided to join him came without his direct influence, they insist.Thomas describes his decision to become a funeral director as "situational." About 15 years ago, "I thought there was an opportunity here that I should take advantage of," Thomas explained. He only needed to look at Jack, at his success and satisfaction in serving clients to know the business had a lot to offer. Plus, "I thought Dad wasn't going to be able to work here forever, and he's proved me wrong," he said.Thomas has since purchased a partnership in the company.The only one of Jack's children to move away, Joseph spent 30 years living on the East Coast and working in the hospital business. He credits the "family factor" with drawing him back to Seattle (Thomas had asked him to join the company). Joseph started as an employee three and a half years ago and found "a comfort with the business. It just seemed right." Down the road, Joseph admitted, it is a possibility he may purchase a partnership: "I find it extremely rewarding, remarkably satisfying."Both men spoke to the benefits of providing the community with another generation of Harveys. "There is a strong message to the families that they take comfort from," Thomas explained. "There is a continuation that they've come to rely on." "This has been a personality-driven business for a long time," Joseph clarified.A PERSONAL APPROACHJack gives a personal approach that clients now expect at the most vulnerable times in their lives. Thomas described Jack as "dependable, consistent, dedicated. He's cut from a different cloth. He's old-school. He's the last of a breed. It's automatic to want to emulate it, what he's done." Jack still lives the legacy he's given his business, "and it is easy to ride the coattails of that," Thomas declared."We're probably closer to doing what he has done - not because it is successful but because it is right," Joseph explained. "It's well worth picking up the ball and running the play he started." When clients come to him at the most confusing and challenging time of their lives Joseph is grateful. "All I have to say is I'm Jack Harvey's son, and they are at ease," he said.Talking with Jack, he recalled names and histories of funeral directors who once served this region. Today, most are gone, having sold their businesses to a few corporations or merged to form a chain. Meanwhile, Hoffner, Fisher and Harvey - begun in Fremont in 1928 - has remained independent and family-owned."There's a little more personal connection," Jack explained about their approach. "We get to know the families over the years; we can pay attention to what's happening." "We work from relationships and trust from a handshake," Thomas explained. "We do things the old-fashioned way, and you can do that in a family business." As an independent business, they have the flexibility to make compromises when problems arise that a corporate employee isn't allowed to make.According to Joseph, by remaining independent and family-owned, they also have an easier time being involved in and responsive to the community. Jack relishes their ability to make decisions locally, in the same area to be affected by those decisions.Joseph spoke for all three men when he said, "We're here because we want to be here." A PASSING THOUGHTCertainly, at age 84, Jack admitted, he's given passing thoughts to retirement, but so far, the thoughts just keep passing.As one member of the community who has regularly spotted Jack outside the always-peaceful and picturesque Hoffner, Fisher & Harvey property, I hope those thoughts keep passing.Kirby Lindsay works, lives and recreates in Fremont. She welcomes your comments at fremont@oz.net.[[In-content Ad]]
