The Monitor has lost a member of its family — a person whose work and presence are not so simply described by title or stature with the company, but described more accurately as a father figure to generations of staff, and whose fingerprints were figuratively and literally embedded in every article of newsprint, at every corner store, at each newsstand, and at kitchen tables across the Rio Grande Valley, for nearly half a century.
(Courtesy Photo)
In short, a newspaper was in his hands before it was in yours.
Longtime press manager Baldemar Romero, who we all knew as Balde, died unexpectedly at the age of 65 on Tuesday, shocking the AIM Media Texas family and leaving his beloved wife, children and grandchildren devastated and in mourning.
He’s considered one of the foundational pillars of the newspaper, having overseen the production of as many as tens of millions of papers annually, ranging from AIM Media Texas properties The Monitor, Valley Morning Star and The Brownsville Herald, the Mid-Valley Town Crier, El Extra and El Nuevo Heraldo, to commercial jobs that include community weeklies and periodicals, school newspapers, special inserts, tabloids and flyers.
If it was in newsprint, and if it was local, Balde toiled over it. Often until the wee hours of the morning, going home when others were waking to their cup of coffee to read what he and his crew had worked so hard to accomplish.
Balde was also a nurturer whose natural inclination was to take great care over the growth of his family — both at work and at home.
At work, his knowledge of running the news presses — a sophisticated piece of machinery that requires a half-dozen people to operate and towers at three stories in height, requiring large accommodations akin to a warehouse in which ink and newsprint are measured in tonnage — was second to none. His management demanded pride in the work of his staff, and leadership as an advocate for their needs.
At home, he fathered by example, loved with the heart of a poet who saw beauty in the moments he spent with his family, and his favorite pastime was simply being a granddad. His family says he was happiest on the evenings when they got together for music, food and merriment.
RUNNING THE PRESSES
(Larry W. Clubb | The Monitor)
A native of Pharr, Balde began his career at The Monitor in 1974, when the newspaper was located at 1100 Ash Ave. in McAllen, and worked his way up from a pressman to press manager in a few years.
His son Jesse Romero, who worked with his father at The Monitor for 25 years, told the story Thursday about how his dad got the job.
According to Jesse, Balde was charged with running the newspaper’s old press, which at that time was affectionately referred to as Blue Thunder for its color and loud roar, during the press manager’s vacation.
“(The publisher) came in and talked to my dad and he said, ‘Hey, what’s changed, we noticed the quality of the paper go up,’” Jesse said with a laugh, recalling the story of how Balde was promoted to press manager. “It was just my dad doing things his way.”
Blue Thunder was something of a legend, the source from which the Valley’s local journalism had a physical platform, but also a stubborn and noisy machine that shook the building when editions ran off the press at the newspaper’s former home.
But Balde knew how to tame it.
“His work ethic was by far the best,” Jesse said. “His dedication and love for what he did showed, and he showed a lot of people the same dedication. Everyone was just so proud to work for him and with him. As far as my career is concerned, I pretty much learned everything from him, and learned to never have fear to tackle any problem that we had.”
When news of Balde’s death came, Monitor Publisher Stephan Wingert on Wednesday shared with the staff his recollections of the man he worked with closely for decades, more notably a practical joke.
Wingert said that on New Year’s Eve 1999, fears of Y2K and worldwide computer failures were rampant, and there were concerns over whether the press would be impacted.
For Wingert, it was a cause for worry. For Balde, it was an opportunity to have a little fun.
“While there was uncertainty about the press run, Balde was confident. The plan was to finish the run before midnight, but of course, we ran late,” Wingert recalled in an email. “Around midnight, at press time Balde pushed the start button with no response. As panic began to rise in my mind, Balde casually walked over to the electrical cabinet, flipped a switch and sauntered back and tried to start again. As Blue Thunder (immediately) responded, Balde glanced over his shoulder with a slight grin on his face. He got me.”
In 2003, Balde was instrumental in both the selection and installation of a new press, more technologically advanced and capable of printing more and faster. He and Wingert went as far as Norway and France to see a version of this press in action and to see its manufacturing facility.
“We soon learned the new press had a similar personality to the old one. But Balde took on each challenge in stride,” Wingert wrote. “That was simply his way — through countless natural disasters, power outages, mechanical breakdowns, software glitches, late runs, and breaking news. In our business we print 365 days a year and Balde was the strong, driving force who led his team to make it happen.”
Jesse recalled some of those issues and, after a while, helped his dad tackle them together.
“His dedication, to him, is we gotta get the paper out,” Jesse said. “I know that dedication he had for his job; he was the first one there most of the time and often the last one to leave.”
RETURN TO THE MONITOR
To Jesse, his dad was a family man above all.
“First and foremost it’d be the love for his grandkids, and all family,” Jesse said when asked for his memory of Balde, whose daughter Jessica also worked for the newspaper in the graphics department. “He always enjoyed playing with his grandkids. He’d go above and beyond for them, play around with them.”
Working with his children didn’t conflict with Balde’s job, but instead allowed them to witness his consummate professionalism up close, as he could separate his work from personal relationships.
“One of the most interesting things in my life is knowing that he’s dad, but he would also treat me no different than he would treat any of the other guys,” Jesse said of Balde. “Once I got into a management position and we worked side by side, sometimes we didn’t see eye to eye, but it was work. When 12 noon came around for lunch, we ate together and it went back to father and son. That was always kind of a neat thing that we did. We have professionalism to keep business, business, and to keep what’s family, family. We did that on a day-in and day-out basis, every day.”
The Monitor was such a big part of Balde’s life that his widow and Jesse’s mother, Ermelinda “Linda” Romero, had the idea of driving Balde through the parking lot of the newspaper, now located at 1400 E. Nolana Ave. in McAllen, prior to his burial Saturday.
“That place was his second home,” Jesse said of the significance of his dad’s return to The Monitor before being laid to rest. “She (Linda) feels it’s a proper sendoff and his way to say goodbye.”
Wingert had also encouraged members of the newspaper’s staff to gather outside the building at 2:45 p.m. that day, to pay their final respects.
Tami Cupples-Hernandez, The Monitor’s community and features editor who is close with Balde’s family, made plans to attend the funeral. On Wednesday, she shared one of her fondest memories of his quiet wit occurring while at work one August day in 2014.
“I was pregnant and bloated, and I remember walking out from the bathroom in size 10 flip flops because my feet were too big for anything else,” Cupples-Hernandez said. “Balde was walking in my direction and he just looked at me with a little smile on his face and said, ‘Ya mero?’ And I laughed and said, ‘I hope so.’”
She told this story while chuckling, clearly still moved by Balde’s subtle humor.
Sports editor Henry Miller said he “loved talking with” Balde and recalled “his cheerful persona and the joyful aura that seemed to surround him.”
Balde’s career at The Monitor spanned an impressive 46 years, almost 40 of which he spent as a friend to sales manager Linda Gonzalez, who said she will “truly miss him.”
The newspaper’s publisher expressed regret in not having the opportunity to convey to Balde what he meant to him and The Monitor.
“I wish I had the opportunity to thank him for his dedication and service to this industry, and for the impact he had on The Monitor family. I will treasure his memory, most especially the times when something made him laugh,” Wingert wrote. “All of these moments fill my thoughts this week and I am sure this is the case for many of you; with each thought of him and his family — his wife Linda, and their children, Jesse, and Jessica — I will say a prayer, and come the weekend I will lift a toast up to Balde Romero.”
