A Tribute to a Great Boss

November 19, 2019

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Kenny on the job in the Tower at the AAU in Orlando with members of his team.

 

 

There was a facebook thread on Ken Hackmeister back in August of 2019 and I responded to it:

 

I saw this thread on Ken Hackmeister and thought I should say a few words as in my book, he is the definition of class and people should know what a major role he has played in fastpitch in general and the ISC specifically.

Ken Hackmeister

I had the distinct pleasure of working with and for Ken Hackmeister for the majority of my many years as the webmaster of the International Softball Congress (ISC). When I first met with a number of the executive of the ISC in Victoria, BC in 1997 and proposed that the organization move to a web based site to share information on our great sport, it was Kenny who stood out as the leader and I knew then, I wanted to work with him.

It was 1999 when I was formally asked to take on the job as Webmaster and to create a website for the ISC. Kenny was not yet the Executive Director of the ISC but it was obvious to me it would only be a matter of time before he took on that role. Kenny had the knowledge and more importantly, the leadership skills to take on the role of taking the ISC into the future.

In my working career, I had been very fortunate to work for a number of outstanding leaders (managers, commanding officers, directors, senior executives) in my many years with the Canadian Armed Forces then with Canada Post Corporation then York University. I can state that without exception, Kenny stood out as the absolute best of the great people I had worked for and with.

In addition to working for Kenny with the ISC, I also had the pleasure of working with him for many years with the Annual AAU Fastpitch Tournament in Orlando, Florida. Not everyone was aware that it was Kenny who created this great tournament and grew it to what it became the focal point for our men’s fastball game every January in the warm Florida sun. Sadly, the tournament did not last for long after Kenny retired from his position there.

While my position with the ISC was not actually a full time position requiring 9-5 attendance Monday to Friday, it did feel like it was, and that had a lot to do with the leadership and guidance that emanated from Ken Hackmeister. Kenny had a vision and he knew how to communicate it with the people that worked for him. He also knew how to lead the large group of ISC Commissioners who comprised the organization and who shared the workload that kept it running and growing.

For all those years that I worked in the ISC for and with Ken, I got up every morning looking forward to opening my email to find what task Ken would assign to me next. I started every day by working on whatever Ken needed done to the ISC site. The day ended, generally after midnight by my checking my email one last time for the day to see if there was anything new he needed done. It was a pleasure to work with him and personally very rewarding to be contributing to a very worthwhile venture where the guidance and leadership came from such an outstanding leader in our sport.

I wish Kenny all the luck in the world, especially right now while he is fighting the good fight. I hope we see you around the ball yard for a long time to come.

 

from August 2019 by Al Doran - fastball@pmihrm.com

 

 

 

Obituary

and

Ken Hackmeister passes