Published: October 17, 2009 10:54 pm      

Times-News sales executive ends four-decade career

CUMBERLAND — When Steve Stouffer’s dad handed him an employment application for the Cumberland Times-News in 1968, the Art Institute of Pennsylvania graduate wasn’t at all interested. Instead, Steve had his sights on Houston, Texas, where he had spent a summer with an uncle after graduating from Hyndman High School four years earlier.

“I filled it out and Dad took it back to the newspaper but I really wasn’t interested. Then I got a call not long after that and an interview. A couple days later, Jack Wilkinson called me and offered me a job,” said Stouffer as he detailed the start of his 41-year career in advertising sales that began when the Times and Alleghenian published two editions, the Cumberland News in the morning and the Cumberland Evening and Sunday Times.

“I gotta thank the good Lord for giving me the opportunity of working here. I can look back now and see this is where I was supposed to be.

“The group of people who work here — they become your family. It’s amazing. You share every heartache, like the passing of my daughter Stephanie. The outpouring and the support I got, it’s hard to put into words,” said the son of Wilma “Granny” Stouffer of Hyndman — who Steve said “is 90 years old going on 60” — and the late Wilbert “Web” Stouffer. Steve and Alice Stouffer’s daughter Stephanie Ann Messenger succumbed to cancer in September 2007 at age 36.

The tall, affable sales executive said he will miss “the interaction with my co-workers and the interaction I have with my advertisers. The trust that you build up — that is one of the things Jack Wilkinson stressed. He said our customers would come to trust us as much as their own employees. He was so beyond his time as far as an advertising director. Of all the teachers I ever had, I learned more from Jack Wilkinson than anybody,” said Stouffer, who also made mention of another Jack who impacted his life.

“There was no one that you could work for that could treat you better than Jack McMullen,” said Stouffer, who revealed one of his secrets for developing and maintaining good relationships.

“I’ve always tried to live by the golden rule and you just can’t go wrong with that. And that has to do with the good upbringing that I had,” he said.

Stouffer worked Baltimore Street over the years like he owned it. “I handled Baltimore Street and had all of the accounts at one time, Sears and Montgomery Ward, Joe the Motorist’s Friend, Rosenbaum’s, the Manhattan, Schwarzenbach’s, Peskin’s. We would do 40-page Christmas tabs (publications) from downtown Cumberland alone.

“Once they closed downtown, the hustle and bustle was gone and the holidays were never the same. At one time we had no competition. Now there are so many places for people to put their advertising dollars and the Internet has changed the whole aspect of getting the news. The economy too is playing a big part.

“I remember the time when we had to turn people away in advertising because there was just no more room in the newspaper,” he said.

Mort Peskin was one of Stouffer’s regular downtown contacts. “Steve always conveyed a classy ad for us. Between Jack Wilkinson, Steve Stouffer and Ron Monahan, they all contributed to the success of my store. Steve did it with charisma and it was always fun,” said Peskin.

Monahan, the Times-News publisher, said he will miss Steve “personally and professionally.”

“I worked with Steve for the 41 years he was here. When I moved from production into advertising, he was a great help to me. He has contributed greatly to the successs of the Times-News and he was always ready to help anyone in any department. He always has had a positive attitude and is well-respected in the retail community,” said Monahan.

One of the many community members who respects Stouffer is Kevin Kamauf, the Allegany County Fair manager and events coordinator.

“I’ve worked with Steve for the past 26 years. Steve is one great guy. He’s very conscientious about me as a client and meeting the needs of the Allegany County Fair. I’ve really enjoyed working with him. He’s become a great friend and I’m going to miss him,” said Kamauf.

Times-News assistant general manager George Griffin noted how Stouffer “enjoyed working with people.”

“Steve was able to see the best in everyone and keep everything in perspective. This is a reason he was successful at his job. His energy and compassion will be deeply missed,” said Griffin.

In his retirement, Stouffer said he has no definite plans with his wife, Alice, who retired in July from Potomac Valley Pharmacy in Hyndman, where she was a pharmacy technician.

Spending time with the family — including sons Scott, a CSX railroad electrician, and son Jeff, who is a financial analyst in New Jersey, and grandsons M.J. and Spencer Messenger and Banks, Alexander and Zachery Stouffer — is a given.

“We’re just going to enjoy it. I do want to play more golf than I’ve played in the last couple years. I enjoy gardening and wood work,” said Stouffer, adding that he developed his woodworking skills in working with his dad, who he said, “was a pretty good carpenter.”

Stouffer and Griffin have constructed a wood shop on Moore’s Hollow Road for their business, G&S Custom Cabinets. For years, the two newspaper executives worked out of Stouffer’s basement wood shop before recently expanding their enterprise.

“It’s something I’ve always wanted to do. I love doing woodwork. I’m going to be able to do something that I’ve always wanted to do in life.

“I’ve been so blessed. I’ve been able to provide for my family and I’ve really enjoyed what I have done and not everyone can say that. I’ve made so many friends,” said Stouffer. “I’ve really, really enjoyed the ride.”

Contact Jeffrey Alderton at jlalderton@times-news.com.