LETTERS: HUCKSTEP WAS MENTOR, SUPPORTER

To the editor:

After Christmas, you may have read a letter from me thanking the community for supporting a program we, along with this newspaper, conducts each year for elderly people. I talked about a dear friend who had influenced not only me, but the community we live in: Dr. John Crowe. Today, without a holiday to prompt it, I am compelled to write another letter for as many to read as possible.

Gene Huckstep had as much influence on my life as my own parents. Charlie and Lucy Boyce gave me principles, ethics, confidence in myself and the creed to live my life serving God and helping as well as loving people. How, you may ask, could Gene Huckstep add to that?

Twenty-four years ago I became the county health nurse for Cape Girardeau County. I had been a nurse for 10 years, and my skills as such were reasonably good. For years, there was only a nursing service. I knew what public health was and how it could add to the overall good to a community. What I did not know was how to prepare a budget, manage employees, present concepts and idea or politick. I was afraid of confrontation. This is where Gene, along with his two partners on the county commission, Ronnie Fisher and Leonard Sander, stepped in. Because we were a nursing service, our money came from both the state and county. A gentlemen's agreement was made to share minimal amounts of money with the idea of demonstrating to the community what public health is and hopefully have a mil tax passed to support it fully. The county commission was my boss and held all strings to programs.

The first time I met Gene along with the other commissioners I was greeted with a loud and demanding, "What ... are you in here for?" Then he smiled like the devil when he saw me shudder. Somehow I managed to spurt out my purpose, shaking and wondering what on Earth I was doing there in front of this frightening man. After I presented my reason for being there, I noticed that while acting as if couldn't care less what I was saying, he was taking in every single word I said. When I was finished with my presentation, Gene smiled at me and said, "That's not a bad idea. Go ahead and try it." That idea was the first clinic the nursing service, now the public health department, presented to our community other than the traditional childhood immunizations. The clinic was our sexually transmitted disease clinic, the first and only one in the southeastern district for several years.

Gene never told me from that first meeting on that any of my ideas were unworthy. If he ever though they weren't exactly appropriate or wouldn't work, he never said it. He would suggest checking into this avenue or that process and "come back again when you have, and we'll talk about it then." In a day when women, especially very young ones, might be the director of an agency were rare, he treated me as an equal. It did not matter that I was a young female. I was someone who was worthy of listening and giving credit to. One of Gene's great gifts was this ability. He didn't just listen to you. He heard what you were saying. Some may find it hard to believe, but I did not know how to stand up to controversy until I met Gene and learned from him that I really did have something to offer to this community and, if I really believed in it, it would happen.

After 10 years of being a nursing service and several failed attempts at passing the mil tax to support a public health department, the programs were growing and thriving and required more public health nurses. And we needed an environmental program. It was time to go back to work and ask this community to pass the mil tax. Gene was all for it, as were Ronnie and Leonard. Gene took me by the hand and said, "Listen here, girl. Here's what you need to do." Later, when the community approved a mil tax to support a public health department, Gene gave me what he called a blue-ribbon board, continuing to support me and the new public health department in different ways. He guided me in how to become a businessperson and personnel manager and how to handle the big guys. He was available any time of day for any kind of reason, be it personal or business. It did not matter to Gene what the problem was. What mattered was if he could help or not. He always could. He also loved to laugh and was always ready for a good joke, another trait we shared.

Gene was my mentor in many ways, but most of all Gene was my buddy and my friend. Gene loved me warts and all. As a result of his influence, this county has one of the most active and productive public health departments in the state. We offer 47 programs to Cape Girardeau County residents, and we continue to add more. He was still helping me solve problems until his health began to fail a couple of years ago.

I am saddened with his death. It's hard to believe a man who was so there in your face has left us. He gave his all to his hometown and home community. He defended it, fought for it and nurtured it as any true friend will. I will always feel the void his death has created. There is a quote: "If I have seen more than most in this world, it is because I have stood on the shoulders of giants." Gene Huckstep was one of my giants.

CHARLOTTE B. CRAIG, Director

Cape Girardeau County Health Department

Cape Girardeau