RETIRED BJ ART DEPARTMENT CHIEF ART KRUMMEL PASSED AWAY

 

                     ART KRUMMEL, CHARLENE NEVADA, MARRIED 53 YEARS 

Retired BJ artist Art Krummel passes away

Former BJ art department chief Art Krummel passed away.

His wife, former BJ reporter Charlene Nevada, posted:

“Dear friends, I just wanted to share that I lost my husband and best friend (Art Krummel) this morning. He had been dealing with a number of heart and lung issues. I'm glad he is at peace but my heart aches.

 

“We shared our lives for 53 years, and we were blessed to work together for 35 of those years at the Beacon Journal. I'm planning a memorial for early June and I will be in touch.”

 

Art once described working at the BJ as “every day was like Christmas.” I agree. I loved it so much I ran to work every day.

 

Art tells his story better than I ever could so I’ll let him do it as he did in a long-ago interview:

“I began at the age of 11 or 12 by drawing  squirrels, bears and objects using simple shapes. I was hooked.

“In high school I started visiting ad studios and was fascinated with the art of ad layout, lettering and line illustration. I also became an avid fan of Norman Rockwell’s work and decided I wanted to paint like him. I often went to a used book store looking for Rockwell illustrations to buy the magazine for a nickel or dime.

“Early on I was entirely self-taught. I took art in high school and became a bit of a known artist at my school. My art teacher was a wonderful lady but was mostly into things like masks and paper mache.

“After I graduated (and did the obligatory hitchhike around the country), I got a job at the local newspaper as a copy boy. With a full-time job, I immediately enrolled in some art classes in a nearby city. I hung around the art department at the newspaper and got to know the artists.

“Sadly, one of the artists died and I was invited to join the department. I soon enrolled in the art program at the University of Akron and eventually got a BS in graphic design.

“I spent 40 years at the newspaper. Every day of those years was like Christmas morning for me.”

 

Art and Charlene lived in Tallmadge, as I do, but in 2010 bought a 2^nd home in Garden City, South Carolina and in 2014 and later used it as a retreat from Ohio winters.

Garden City is 13 miles from Pawleys Island, South Carolina, where retired BJ printers and retired business department employees moved after retirement.

When Charlene finalizes the time, day and place for Art’s memorial I’ll post a follow-up article on it here.”.

Art, Clyde “Bud” Morris (who came up with the name for Channels, the TV guide that I gave birth to as the TV editor), Dennis Balogh, Walt Neal, Denny Haas roamed through the Art Department over the years.