Charlie Marler, 89, remembered as prof with high standards, interest in all things ACU

Mentor.

It's a word that quickly came to mind when recalling the life of Charlie Marler, the longtime Abilene Christian University staff and faculty member who died May 27. He was 89.

"Charlie had the unique gift of critiquing without criticizing," said Kenneth Pybus, associate professor in ACU's Department of Journalism and Mass Communication and department chairman. "His high standards in the classroom and in the newsroom inspired generations of storytellers to strive for excellence every day."

Marler was employed at ACU for 58 years, and is the fourth longest serving employee in a full-time role with 48 years. He retired in 2003, then served in a part-time role for 10 more years.

He recently had a reunion of sorts with current and former ACU staff and students who attended the graveside service for two-time Pulitzer Prize winner David Leeson, whom Marler taught.

Leeson was among a number of students who have gone to acclaim as journalists.

While Leeson, 64, died unexpectedly, Marler could not recover from a recent stroke.

He had many roles

Marler was not a native Texan, born April 13, 1933, in Garfield, Arkansas.

He graduated from ACC in 1955 and earned a master's degree in history in 1968. As a student, he was the only one ever to serve as editor of both the yearbook (Prickly Pear) and student newspaper (The Optimist).

He began working for ACC in 1955 as assistant sports information director.

Marler stepped off the Hill for a few years to serve in the U.S. Army and Army Reserve, returning in 1958 as the sports information director.

He also was associate director for development (1963-64) and headed the news and information department from 1964-71.

He took leave to earn his doctorate, returning in 1974 as a faculty member in the journalism-mass communications department. Four years later, he was named ACU's outstanding teacher, and in 2006 became a member of the university's sports hall of fame.

He edited the 1989 book "Lone Star Christmas: The Seasonal Editorials of Frank Grimes," a collection of writing by the editor of the Abilene Reporter-News for more than 40 years.

A prof who was tough but appreciated by students

"He was my mentor, professor, teammate and Texas Father," said Ron Hadfield, a former student and currently assistant vice president for university communications and editor of ACU Today magazine. Hadfield said that when he is called to do the work of a journalist on behalf of the university, he senses Marler looking over his shoulder.

"In a good way. He did that flawlessly for decades, and never told me what to do, but modeled it. That's the way the best mentors navigate their relationship with those who look to them for critique, approval and reassurance."

Gary McCaleb, the former Abilene mayor and another longtime ACU employee, said he was quite aware of the word around campus regarding certain professors by students. Some were labeled as easy, others hard - avoid them.

Marler, he said, had the reputation for being tough but well worth taking a class with him.

"I heard from students all the time that had him. He was able to blend the combination of 'He's the hardest teacher I ever had' and 'the best teacher I ever had,'" McCaleb said. "That doesn't always go together for students. They knew he was trying to help them become the best that they could be.

"He was able to convey that in a way that ... a lot of times students will ask about a teacher before they take them. (Marler) had that skill to be both, in the college students' terminology, hard but they just loved him."

Cheryl Bacon, retired journalism professor at ACU and department chairwoman, said she enjoyed reading social media remembrances by former students who "remember the infamous red dots marking errors in the Optimist (the university student newspaper) and red ink on their comm law papers."

However, "the thing they most remember and treasure is the time and wisdom he shared with such generosity of spirit."

Bacon said the professor was demanding.

"He expected the students and faculty to apply the same level of rigor to their efforts that he applied to his teaching. He had no patience for shallow thinking or sloppy writing," she said.

But that was balanced by the hospitality that Charlie and Peggy Marler offered to others.

McCaleb said he and Marler officed together "in what we called the old president's home."

That was when Marler wore the hat of sports information director for the university. In later years, Marler transitioned to his faculty role and other responsibilities, including chairing the journalism department.

"He never stopped following sports," McCaleb said. But the university was growing and Marler's skillset was needed in a broader sense.

"That department grew and expanded in its scope during his leadership," McCaleb said.

The two worked together on many projects over the years. Though they did not teach in the same department, both got their doctorates and returned to teach - Marler in journalism and McCaleb in business management.

But they teamed each year to organize the day when the university honored those in the Armed Forces over the year, he said.

"I'd always ask Charlie to work with me on it because in addition to everything else he was, he was a historian," McCaleb said. If Marler didn't recall an ACU fact immediately, he knew where to quickly find it.

"Every year, we ask one to come back and I'd always ask him for his recommendation. He always knew stories and he'd say, 'Let me tell you about this guy ...' I'd say, 'That's a great choice, let's do that.'"

Marler knew as much, or perhaps more, about ACU history than anyone in the history department, McCaleb said, laughing. Marler had a part in the ACU history book project "Like Stars Shining Brightly."

Marler "was always looking for ways to honor and celebrate the university and the people who had been a part of the stories of the university," McCaleb said.

He loved his sports

Over the years, many of the best stories would include sports.

And that's how future Olympic gold medal winner Earl Young got to know Marler. Young was a student at then-Abilene Christian College when he won Olympic gold in Rome on the U.S. 1,600 relay and took sixth individually in the 400.

"I'd known the man since I was 17 years old," said Young, who called Marler "a solid guy" with a "laidback nature. In later years, I learned about his philosophies and beliefs."

But early on, it was athlete and SID.

"His reporting ability ... how well he could describe what I did," Young recalled, laughing. "He usually made it sound pretty good."

As an athlete, Young was impressed by how much Marler knew about the sport. When he was in sports information, no one across the country knew more than Marler about track and field.

More recently, they worked together on an ACU track history, which Young said is what, years ago, "put Abilene Christian on the map." He got to read each chapter, he said, when Marler was done with it.

Names that include sprinter Bobby Morrow and pole vaulter Billy Pembleton, who got ACU track on the map.

"It's as professional as could be about (track and field)," Young said.

Hadfield also is greatly knowledgeable about ACU sports history, and enjoyed sharing that interest with Marler.

"We both love sports and have done more than our share of writing about them and everything else that has transpired on the Hill, more than 100 years altogether," Hadfield said. Marler was there when Hadfield wrote about ACU's last football game at Shotwell Stadium before returning to the campus in September 2017.

"I wouldn't have had it any other way," he said.

A man to remember

Bacon said Marler didn't fade away into retirement but stayed involved.

"I watched him continue to embrace the disciplines he loved — journalism, communication law, design, history and scripture's role in helping us understand and apply each of those things," she said.

Pybus mentioned "mentor" again.

"Doc was a teacher, adviser, mentor, church leader, godly husband and father, scout leader, scholar and counselor," he said. "Most of all, he was my friend. One of the best I'll ever have."

Greg Jaklewicz is editor of the Abilene Reporter-News and general columnist. If you appreciate locally driven news, you can support local journalists with a digital subscription to ReporterNews.com. 

This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Charlie Marler, 89, remembered as high-standards prof, love of ACU