His departing words were identical each day as he left the office.

“See you mañana.”

Bob Haenel, a former editor of mine, would head for the door and utter those words to newspaper staffers who were working on stories for the next day’s edition, for other editions or perhaps magazine stories, as the paper published some magazines for certain coverage areas. 

Bob died June 9. He was my editor at the Fort Bend Herald, a daily paper in Rosenberg, Texas, located outside Houston. I worked there for five years, and Bob was my editor for most of my time there. He eventually left the paper and went to work at the Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office, where he served as the public information officer. 

You work long enough in this business and you will have editors you come to admire and enjoy working with. Bob was one of those editors. His daily expression of “see you mañana” is but one of my memories of working with him.

At the Herald, staffers could work long hours - I worked long days on Tuesdays and Fridays during the school year covering evening games, as I had to be at work each morning to help put out the paper for each weekday afternoon - and it’s critical that you’re on the same page (pun intended) with editors.

Bob cared about people and the community. He was a good newsman. He was a family man with a terrific sense of humor. You need to have a bit of a sense of humor to work in the newspaper business, especially with the stress of deadlines and the pressure to keep your readers informed. 

But I also got to know Bob outside the office. I would take care of his dogs when he and his wife went out of town. One of those canines was a sweet bulldog named Jed, who was always so happy when I arrived at the Haenel home. Bob and I and his two sons attended a Houston Astros game one time, back during the time when the Astros were a perennial dumpster fire. 

Bob also had certain traditions that staffers and readers enjoyed, such as his annual “It’s a Wonderful Life” trivia column. Bob loved that classic Yuletide movie and everyone looked forward to that column. He also led us in prayer for our annual Thanksgiving/Christmas dinner. (I can’t remember whether we did one or both each year.) 

In addition to working at the newspaper and sheriff’s office, Bob was a leader in the community, as he was a Rotarian and served as mayor for two terms in the Village of Fairchilds, among other endeavors, according to his obituary last week in the Herald.

Thinking about Bob reminded me of a passage in “It’s a Wonderful Life,” when the protagonist George Bailey is visited by a friend, Violet, seeking financial help as she departs for New York City. George, who in an upcoming - and pivotal - scene was about to discover something that could cause financial ruin for his building and loan business (spoiler alert), lended some money to Violet, because he was a friend to many people in Bedford Falls, and wished her good luck. 

She said, “I’m glad I know you, George Bailey.” 

And I’m glad I knew you, Bob.