‘Gee, Mr. G., you’re a good reader’

Harris “Skee” Gutmacher, an 80-year-old Costa Mesa resident, knows

how to enjoy his retirement. Gutmacher spends one day a week

volunteering at Wilson Elementary School on the Westside, where he

reads to the kindergartners in Jenny Dory’s class.

Outside of the classroom, Gutmacher spends about four days each

week on the links at the Costa Mesa Country Club. He discovered his

love of golf while attending college after he returned from World War

II, where he earned a Purple Heart.

From Coney Island, N.Y., Gutmacher first encountered Southern

California in 1942 when he escorted his brother’s bride to Orange

County.

But he made his living as a dress manufacturer in New Jersey until

1985, when he retired and came to Costa Mesa.

He sat down with the Daily Pilot’s Andrew Edwards at the Costa

Mesa Country Club to talk about books, volunteering and his life.

How did you get started with the school?

Well, I once saw -- not an ad in the paper but a write-up -- that

they need volunteers to read to the kids.

So I thought I’d take a shot. I’d never done volunteer work,

really, so I did it.

I went to Wilson School and I hooked up with Mrs. Dory, and from

day one, I was very much at ease. And I learned a lot from her, and I

hope I taught the kids.... I didn’t have much to teach them but teach

them how to read, and they read to me.

They need practice, because most of my kids, when they go home,

it’s not an English-speaking home, so they need extra ... support.

What kinds of stories do the children like?

Well, they give me the books. I ask them to give me a book that

they want to read. What’s the dog? “Clifford.” “Clifford’s” a big

one. The boys like sharks, dinosaurs. The gamut, really.

What’s kept you reading?

I enjoy it -- it’s a selfish reason....

I figured the if kids can use it, I’ve got the time, so why not?

It gives me something to do.

I look forward to it, to tell you the truth, and when I’m

finished, I feel as though I accomplished something.

Any funny moments?

Well, it’s funny, on my birthday, they all give me a happy

birthday, you know. And at the end of the year -- this is what I like

about Mrs. Dory -- every kid makes a drawing and gives me a good

word, and some of the kids said, “Gee, Mr. G., you’re a good reader.

Thanks for helping me read, and I’ll remember you. P.S. I love you.”

Stuff like that, and where are you going to get that?

So, it’s like I say, if we had a way to bottle their energy, man,

we’d be rich.

Where did you serve during World War II?

Europe. I was lucky I got wounded before the Battle of the Bulge.

My outfit went to the Battle of the Bulge and they got decimated.

After that I was put in limited service with a troop carrier company,

those gliders.... We were lucky in a way, because we supposed to go

into Japan.

I was in France, and all of a sudden they said, “Hey, the boat is

in Marseilles,” and the next day: armistice; the war was over.

So we went, got in the boat, went to Newport News, Va. I had

enough points. I wasn’t discharged -- went home for 120 days, got a

discharge, never went back.