Local philanthropist, businessman honored

“You can tell a lot about a town,” Chuck Stratman opened his remarks to the crowd gathered atop a normally lonely hill Sunday inside the newly renovated lattice arbor gazebo, “by how it takes care of its cemeteries.”
It was a comment that Stratman, president of the Shiner Cemetery Association, quickly attributed to the late Jimmy Buske, owner of the last cotton gin in Shiner, a name which elicited several knowing nods from those in the audience of about 30 or so who gathered that windy afternoon.
And whether he knew it or not, Stratman said Buske had touched on words that went even further back in our American experience. Indeed, possibly even predating it altogether with sentiments once shared by those who would one day be called our Founding Fathers.
For as Stratman put it, it was Benjamin Franklin who once said: “Show me first the graveyards of a country, and I will tell you the true character of its people.”
They are sentiments not unlike those shared by Sir William Gladstone, Britain’s longest serving prime minister and noted Victorian orator, who phrased it: “Show me the manner in which a nation cares for its dead, and I will measure with mathematical exactness the tender mercies of its people, their respect for the laws of the land, and their loyalty to high ideals.”
Whichever the preferred speaker, it was there—amid by the many who came before them, the names prominent on the many headstones and monuments surrounding the lattice arbors around them, names of those who made up the “very fabric of the community here in Shiner,” as Stratman described them, who “first built the town, and then worked to build it up to what it is today” - that family and cemetery association alike felt was best suited to honor the late Don G. Kaspar, local businessman and philanthropist, whose foundation continues to support many local charities in his name to this day.
And it was there, on that windy Sunday, that members of the Kaspar family, the Shiner Cemetery Association, the county historical commission, local pastors and others from the community gathered for the Don G. Kaspar memorial dedication, inside the very gazebo that Don’s charity helped transform.

Facility improvements
Walking up, your eye can’t help but land on the many names you pass, and before you know it, you’re reading them all as far as you see, even if you know full well that you have no familial ties to any of those names whatsoever. It’s just in our nature to do so, Stratman said.
For however small a gesture it may seem, Stratman said the very act of reading those names, acknowledging them, serves to honor those laid to rest there.
And oh, how far things have come since the first buildings manifested there. It was a lowly utility shed, built there on the hilltop to stash away a few necessities and cover the pump and water well mechanism needed there at the time.
That came in the early 1900s, before even those in the city would have a thing they called city water, but even after it came and went, that shed would remain a fixture well into the turning of the modern century, some two decades ago now.
Even with its first rendition as a lattice-clad gazebo, offered up by the local Knights of Pythias in 1931, it sheltered those from a very different Shiner than we know today.
The Knights were one of a handful of local fraternal organizations who owned property on the hill and offered up perpetual resting places to the good folks of Shiner.
They first built the lattice arbor gazebo to provide “a place for visitors to rest and reflect, out of the sun or occasional rain,” Stratman said, quoting from its first mention by those early Knights who constructed it.
From its hilltop perch, that gazebo stared down many a dreaded storm, it weathered untold numbers of bone-chilling frosts, and suffered through more blazing hot scorchers than anyone might even care to count.
And like most any structure nearing its centennial will tend to do, the gazebo began to look a mite worse for its wear.
Sure, improvements were made over the years. That lattice has been replaced a few times, for example, and folks might slap on an occasional coat of paint now and again. They even added landscaping ornamentations here and there.
But none really worked to address the aging building’s structural needs or the practical ones that came with the many who gathered there—rain or shine—yet somehow always the wetter of those options presented the biggest challenges.
None, that is, until Don Kaspar came along and made some sizable investments in the property, investments that helped pave the many roads that crisscross the cemetery, install the ADA-compliant wheelchair ramps or sidewalks now found there surrounding the lattice arbor, and breath a fresh new life into its vaulted wooden undercarriage of its modern metal rooftop.
Prior to Don’s investment, no one had done anything to address the gazebo’s aging rooftop, though to hear Ronnie Leck tell it, the former city police chief and present-day cemetery association vice president, that gazebo proved surprisingly stout for building its age.
Nor had anyone tended to things like the building’s lack of electrical power, so folks like Irene Cerny could amp up their electronic organs to set a mood or speakers like Stratman wouldn’t need to yell every word they spoke. Sunday’s gathering, for instance, was primed for a far more somber occasion were it not for Cerny’s chipper melodies offering a cheery reprisal to its otherwise gloomy environs provided by the many bone-white monuments and headstones, frozen sentinels standing watch over the whispers of wind through juniper the only songbird for miles.
Plus, part of the Kaspar investments will also go toward cleaning and preserving the many monuments found across the Shiner Cemetery, both now and in the future, Stratman added. It’s why the gazebo was such a perfect site to honor him.

Timing’s everything
And the timing couldn’t be better either, as last week marked the celebration of the 125th anniversary of the company that Don’s grandfather, August Kaspar, started back in 1898. That today has become the family of companies headed by Don’s grandson, Jason Kaspar, who was also in attendance Sunday with his wife.
Not many men live to say something like that. Don Kaspar did.
And with his loved ones gathered all around, they unveiled Don’s memorial, a handsome bronze placard set in the center of the gazebo’s pale rock wall, complete with Don’s likeness at its top.
Inscribed are the words: “The Shiner Cemetery Association dedicates this plaque and structure in loving memory of Don G. Kaspar, who in his lifetime, served his country, state and hometown of Shiner through his leadership in business, education, and community. His generosity will allow the Shiner Cemetery Association to continue to be a place of dignity and remembrance, now and in the future. Dedicated on this day October 15, 2023.”
Doug Kaspar, Don’s son, then offered a few comments on the family’s behalf. “Dad would no doubt be honored, and frankly, somewhat embarrassed by today’s ceremony,” his boy said, adding that his father tended to prefer a much more subtle recognition if not all-out anonymity when it came to his giving.
Doug Kubicek, head of the Lavaca County Historical Commission, was also asked to make a few remarks, of which he had a wealth. His mother once served as secretary of the cemetery’s association.
After they finished, a few words of prayer were offered by Pastor Chris Heinold of Shiner Lutheran Church, who closed an event that opened in prayer by Pastor Darin Zumwalt of Shiner’s First United Methodist Church, Sunday’s event drew to its conclusion.
But not before the association president offered one last remark for the day, one even more fitting now, thanks to the many improvements that Don Kaspar’s contributions helped provide.
Were Benjamin Franklin here among us today, Stratman asked all to envision, we could only hope he might find favorable things to say about Shiner and what that place on the hill says about the character of those who choose to call this place their home.
In the interests of full disclosure, this story’s writer as well as several members of his family once worked for the Kaspars, crafting newspaper stands well before he got to fill them with any regularity.