UPDATED: Randy Glasbergen 1957-2015

My colleague, veteran gag cartoonist Randy Glasbergen, has died. I had heard that something had happened this past weekend, but have no details.

UPDATE: Randy died August 11, 2015 at Bassett Hospital in Cooperstown, NY. The cause was a heart attack.

There will be visitation today, Friday, August 14th, at the Burgess & Tedesco Funeral Home, 10 South Main Street, Sherburne, NY from 2-4 and 7-9pm. A Memorial Celebration will be held at 10am Saturday, August 15, 2015 at the First United Methodist Church, Chapel Street, Sherburne, NY, followed by internment in West Hill Cemetery, also in Sherburne. A Celebration of Life is scheduled for 12:30 that day at Magro's Banquet Hall 110 Sanitarium Road Sherburne, NY. The family urges everyone to attend. More details here.

Contributions in Randy Glasbergen's memory may be made to the Chenango County SPCA 6160 County Road 32 Norwich, NY 13815, or to the ABC Basset Hound Rescue PO Box 272 Buffalo, NY 14225.

UPDATE: Alan Gardner has posted an email from Randy's wife, Karen, about his final days. Here's Karen:

He was fine on Thursday morning [August 6, 2015] when I left for work, felt ill at 10:00, took him to the doctor’s at 2:00, one hospital by 4:00, transferred to another by 1:00 AM Friday. He had some kind of infection that they were trying to identify, at 9:30 Friday night he had a cardiac arrest that he did not recover from.

He was 58 years old. Randy's wife, Karen Harris Glasbergen, posted on her Facebook page that Randy passed away Tuesday afternoon.

This is very sad and unexpected news. My deepest condolences to his family and friends. I am dumbstruck.

Before I heard, I was making some calls yesterday (August 12, 2015) afternoon, talking about him with a couple of cartoonists, including Dan Collins. Dan had seen a note on a chat board that Randy was ill, in "a battle for life and death," and needed prayers.

UPDATE: You can see a portion of the obituary on his local paper's site. The majority of the story is for subscribers only.

UPDATE: A complete obituary is here.

UPDATE: August 12, 2015: Karen Glasbergen posted this on Randy's Facebook page:

We are sad to announce the passing of Randy Glasbergen on August 11, 2015 at the age of 58. Randy was a husband, father and grandfather, but also had a huge impact on the world with his humor. He mentored many aspiring cartoonists and made everyone laugh every day. 

His planning for the future included a large data base of cartoons that could be sold for years to come. Glasbergen Cartoon Service will be available in the next week for business as usual.

Thank you all so much for your outpouring of love and support. 

Karen Glasbergen and family

She has also stated that the family will continue to run Randy's Cartoon Services business.

Randy Glasbergen loomed large in the field of cartooning. A prolific presence, with a client list of thousands, whose book, HOW TO BE A SUCCESSFUL CARTOONIST, impacted a generation.

From his bio:

Randy began his professional cartoonist career at age 15 and began freelancing full-time after a year of journalism studies in Utica, New York. Aside from a year spent as a staff humor writer at Hallmark Cards in Kansas City, he has been a full-time freelance cartoonist since 1976. Randy lives in a small town in rural New York State with his wife and an assortment of dogs, cats, guinea pigs and fish. He works at home in a cluttered studio that occupies the third floor of his creaky old Victorian home (formerly a boarding house for local school teachers). When he’s not at the drawing board or computer, Randy enjoys walking his basset hounds and spending time with his family. He is a collector of Popeye, Monkees, and GI Joe memorabilia and a fan of amateur women’s roller derby.

Randy took over the long running "The Better Half" comic panel for 32 years (1982-2014). Even though the King Features panel was in 150 newspapers, Randy retired it to concentrate on his Glasbergen Cartoon Service. Two of his features, "Glasbergen Cartoons" and "Thin Line," appear on the GoComics site. 

The Evening Sun, his local Norwich, NY newspaper, posted the above cartoon on its Facebook page along with these words: 

Proof that one person really can make an incredible difference. Thoughts and prayers are with the family of Randy Glasbergen, an all around good man and longtime friend and contributor to The Evening Sun.

Related:
Obituary