Honor Daniel Hartzler (1912-1947)

From the Baltimore Evening Sun, October 28, 1946.

  With a new month comes a monthlong theme, and throughout May the Strangest Names In American Political History will profile several curiously named political figures from Maryland. The first of these articles takes us to Carroll County and Honor Daniel Hartzler, whose political star shone for a brief time in the late 1940s. A funeral home director in Union Bridge, Hartzler was active in the civic life of his community and in 1946 was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates. Just weeks after being sworn in, he died unexpectedly at age 34, curtailing a political career that was still in its infancy.

   The son of Daniel D. (1869-1941) and Fannie (Smucker) Hartzler (1871-1941), Honor Daniel "Jack" Hartzler was born on February 18, 1912, in Ohio. A student in the public schools, Hartzler was a graduate of the Martinsburg, West Virginia high school and also attended Bluffton University. Hartzler married in April 1932 to Kathryn Eline, to who he was wed until his death. The couple had one daughter, Patricia. 

  For three years Hartzler pursued law studies at LaSalle University Extension in Illinois, and in the late 1930s followed in his father's footsteps and earned a degree in embalming. Later, both he and his brother Byron joined their father's undertaking business, under the title D.D. Hartzler and Sons, and following Daniel Hartzler's death in 1941 continued with its operation. The business, then with locations in both Union Bridge and New Windsor, Maryland, still continues in the Hartzler family today. Additionally, "Jack" Hartzler was a partner in the Powell-Hartzler Funeral Home, located in Woodsboro and Libertytown, Maryland.

  Active in the civic and fraternal life of Carroll County, Honor Hartzler was a past president of the Union Bridge Lions Club, as well as chairman of Zone 3 of the Carroll and Frederick County Lions Clubs. He was a former president of the Union Bridge Parent Teacher Association, president of the Union Bridge Chamber of Commerce, and was chair of the local Red Cross chapter and historical society. A parishioner in the Union Bridge Methodist Church, Hartzler chaired the church choir and was a Sunday school teacher. 

From the Hanover Evening Sun, October 26, 1946.

  Honor Hartzler made his first foray into politics with his election to the Union Bridge town council, where he served for two terms, and was a notary public in the 1940s. In 1946 he announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination for the state house of delegates, and that November was elected, polling 6,356 votes. One of four Carroll County delegates elected, Hartzler was sworn into office in January 1947 and was named to the Agricultural and Natural Resources committee. With a bright legislative future before him, Hartzler died just weeks later on February 16, 1947, two days shy of his thirty-fifth birthday. In his obituary published in the Hanover Evening Sun, Hartzler is noted as feeling ill the morning of his death, and while making a cup of coffee at his home was felled by a heart ailment. 

  The loss of the freshman legislator was widely noted in Maryland newspapers in the days following his death, and the house of delegates adjourned on February 18, 1947, out of respect for his memory. Several days after his passing, Hartzler was succeeded by Donald E. Six, who was appointed to fill out the remainder of his term. Honor Daniel Hartzler was survived by his wife and daughter and was interred at the Pipe Creek Church of the Brethren in Union Bridge.

From the Hanover Evening Sun, February 17, 1947.

From the Baltimore Sun.