By Clayton Stairs

cstairs@gtowntimes.com

Present and past employees of the Georgetown Times are mourning the loss of one of their own.

Harold Roberts, who died Tuesday at Georgetown Memorial Hospital after battling cancer, will be remembered as a friend, a father figure and a valued mentor.

Roberts worked at The Times from 1970 to 1999, serving as the advertising manager and then as the production manager.

Vickie Tompkins, who retired this year after 35 years at the paper, said she will remember Roberts as a man who "cared about the newspaper, his co-workers and the community."

"I consider myself one of the lucky ones. Harold was not only my co-worker, he was my friend."

Diane Bone, the general manager at The Times, said Roberts was a great guy who always seemed to be happy.

"He was easy to talk to," Bone said. "If you ever had a problem, he'd try to help you out with it. Even though he was retired, he was still a part of The Times family."

Debbie Feathers, a Times marketing consultant, describes Roberts as smart, fun and fair as a manager.

"He looked at everything from all sides," Feathers said. "He was like my second daddy."

Zena Altman, Times news designer, said she owes her long career with the paper to Roberts.

"Harold hired me fresh out of college and I've been here ever since," Altman said. I always felt like he was my big brother because he took me under his wing."

Another former Times production manager, Chris Carroll, took over Roberts' position when he retired.

Carroll said he learned a lot of valuable things from Roberts.

"He taught me how to balance advertising needs with production needs and how to blend the different departments of the newspaper."

See Roberts' obituary above for service details.