Alan Hauser continues to find new ways to be on the go since his retirement four years ago as chief financial officer for the Southeast Kansas Mental Health Center.
At age 68, Hauser is an avid reader, exerciser and gardener. He also keeps his computing mind active as treasurer of St. Peter’s Lutheran Church, a position he’s held for years and is much appreciated by fellow parishioners.
“He’s a CPA and knows what he’s doing,” contributed Neil Hartwig. “No one ever worries about our financial records.”
Always interested in local affairs, Hauser subscribes to the newspapers of Humboldt, Iola and Chanute, as well as Kansas City. Mysteries are a welcome respite from current events.
He wears a pedometer to track his daily goal of 10,000 steps, works out at B&W’s fitness center and leads an exercise class at United Methodist church.
As for gardening, he’s given up the fight against wandering wildlife, and resorted to flowers.
ALL THESE activities come from a lifetime of discipline and hard work.
Alan was raised on a dairy farm 2 miles from where he and wife DeAnn live east of Humboldt.
As a teen he grew strong from the demands of farm life.
He recalls the strenuous work of hauling hay, when the 100-pound bales of alfalfa crawled from a conveyor and workers on the wagon “bucked” them — a colloquial term for dragging and stacking — on the backs of flatbed trucks. “Later, we had a truck with a pop-up that lifted the bales onto the bed.”
Alan’s favorite task was working crop fields, plowing and disking ahead of planting before no-till captured local farmers’ imagination. Now, corn and soybean seeds frequently are inserted among debris left from the previous year’s crop, giving them a natural layer of mulch.
His favorite sport as a youth was hunting quail, back when it was common to kick up several coveys in a morning’s hunt.
He also was a dandy catcher during the summer baseball season.
After graduating from Humboldt High in 1969, Alan enrolled at Pittsburg State University.
He earned a degree in business, later a master’s, and settled into several jobs, including with Snodgrass-Dunlap in Iola and then with SEK Mental Health.
He and DeAnn married in 1987. They have three daughters and two grandchildren.
