In many ways he was. In many ways he wasn’t.

He was an architect. He was a Texas native son, who flew 23 missions over the European Theater as a navigator in the Army Air Corps during World War II.

Geron lead a multi-faceted life. He had an interest in many subjects. In short, he had an interest in – and a passion for – life.

He settled in the wilds of Alaska in the early 1950s, long before statehood was even considered. As an architect, he had an eye for beauty, function and design. He appreciated finely crafted tools – whether it was a fountain pen or mechanical pencil, a leather worker’s awl, or a fine Parker shotgun.

He was an accomplished photographer who collected and used his cameras throughout the wilds of Alaska. He particularly liked the vintage Leica cameras and still, on occasion, carried the old Leica IIIA he used while flying over Europe during World War II.

He was a fly fisherman extraordinaire. He appreciated the feel and beauty of a fine split-cane fly rod. He tied fishing flies, in addition to creating several fly patterns that are used in the streams today. He loved books and treasured many of the signed first editions from the country’s most knowledgeable authors of flying fishing, many of them his personal friends (Geron’s name has appeared in acknowledgements in books and articles as an expert on vintage tackle.)

As a board member and former president of the Alaska Flyfishers Club he knew fellow fishermen throughout the state of Alaska.

He was a leather craftsman, designing and creating finely tooled fly rod carriers, gun carrying cases and fishing creels.

He once owned a sporting store in Anchorage; and once owned a sporting store farther north in Fairbanks.

He was at one time president of the Alaska Institute of Architects.

He was a business manager of the Alaska Symphony. He owned a fishing camp at Minto Flats. And he was an ardent student of Texas history, particularly the Edward Flats area along the Guadalupe River.

He was a teacher at Anchorage Community College.

He was a musician, adept on the guitar and banjo.

In his more contemplative moments, Geron would take down one of his many pipes from the shelf and light it. He had carved meerschaum pipes, and appreciated the quality pipes like Dunhill, Peterson and Savinelli.

Geron also had an appreciation for fine pocket knives, building up a collection from Alaska of old Cases, Bokers, Winchesters and some exquisite handmade cutlery. He also amassed a fine collection of straight razors.

So, if Harry R. Geron was a commonman, he was a very busy common man.

He married his wife, Alice, nearly 11 years ago. It was his first marriage at the age of 74.

“He said there weren’t many women in Alaska, and he just never got around to marriage,” according to Alice Geron.

The two met on an Internet talk forum, which bloomed into a long-distance romance. Alice, only three younger than Harry, is also a Texas historian and author.

“When I finally was going to the airport to meet him, my sister said: ’you’re nuts what if he’s an ax murderer,’” Alice Geron now says. “So, I met him at the airport, I was a little nervous and I just asked him” ’are you an ax murderer? No, he said, I prefer the chain saw’ … so I didn’t have any problem with that, and took him home with me.”

Harry and Alice were married shortly after that, in March 1997. Not long afterward Harry returned to Alaska to “tie up some loose ends.” He sold some property and began shipping back his personal belongings to their new home in San Antonio.

“Then, the boxes began coming,” Alice recalls. “Boxes and boxes and boxes. I’d throw them under and around the piano, and they kept coming. Finally, I talked to him on the phone and told him he was going to have to buy me a larger piano, there was no where else to put all these boxes.”

The boxes were filled with the things that Harry could not bring himself to abandon in the Last Frontier.

The Gerons added a room to their Texas home to house all of Harry’s collections.

In February, the long, busy life of Harry R. Garon ended at the age of 86. Many of the treasures collected during his full life will go up for auction online between Aug. 14-28 at TexasBid.com. In his nearly 20-year career, Texas auctioneer Forres Meadows is not familiar with many of the items from the estate of this early Alaskan outdoorsman and adventurer.

Fly fishing – with the exception of saltwater fishing on the Texas coast – is not a highly pursued sport within the massive inland confines of the state.

“It’s really different from anything we normally see in Texas,” Meadows allows. “It’s just a weird collection of stuff, for us. We don’t have any idea what most of this stuff is worth … we’re just putting it on the Internet and letting it find its own value.”

The roughly 600 lots will include classic vintage fly rods, reels and spools, creels (some handmade and signed by Geron), and hand-tied flies (again, some Geron-created flies), in addition to several author-signed books on fly fishing. There are more than 200 quality pocket and fixed-blade knives, a fine Parker shotgun and an older Alaska-crafted violin with a whalebone chin rest and tuning keys.

Although Meadows was only assigned Geron’s estate after his death, he feels that most of the items in the auctions still carry the love and appreciation of this not so common man.

“To me, he was a Renaissance man,” Meadows says. “He had so many interests, and so many talents. Once in awhile you have these auctions where you just wonder how much you missed in life by not knowing these people.”

Contact: (830) 230-5362

www.TexasBid.com

Eric C. Rodenberg