90 YEARS AND GOING STRONG. When you talk “turkey,” the name Al “Turk” Husman comes up over and over. He opened his Newman turkey hatchery in 1946 and built it into one of the nation’s finest turkey hatching facilities. His vision, dedication and remarkable business skills earned him the respect of industry experts worldwide. Today, more than 60 years later and after the hatchery was sold first to the Grange Company and now Foster Farms, Al is still a man known and loved by his colleagues and those he mentored.

He turned 90 on May 13, and friends and family plan to celebrate with him in Santa Nella on Saturday. “This man helped and mentored lots of kids from Newman and Gustine, and many of us moved on to college and into the poultry business because we admired and learned from Al,” said Bob Cornell, Orestimba High graduate and retired Foster Farms poultry leader. Cornell helped build Foster Farms while working in both the chicken and turkey farm facilities where he worked for 35 years.

“We learned loyalty and hard work,” Cornell added. “Turk led by example, treated people with dignity and respect and had the highest integrity in both his personal and business dealings.”

He got the nickname “Turk” from Turk Greenough, a wild bronc rider/champion. Al rode bulls as a youngster growing up south of Gustine on Husman Road. He served in the Coast Guard in WWII, stationed in Hawaii. He joined the military after Pearl Harbor, working as a cook; this experience started a life-long love of cooking and preparing food.

Al married the late Jean Gove from Merced, who he met while riding horses. He is the father of Jay Husman, Suzi Hoge and the late Eric Husman, grandfather to 10 and great-grandfather to six. Al’s parents came from Denmark, and his father also raised turkeys, poultry and sheep near Hageman Park.

Al’s innovations led the way for modern turkey production. He established the first pre-warming and cooling system for incubators, an alarm system and emergency backup electrical system as well as quality control temperature checks every hour for hatchers and every three hours for incubators.

Al retired to Ft. Bragg after selling the hatchery many years ago and started a deep sea fishing business. He has since retired from that work, but enjoys his friends in that northern fishing port today. He lives alone, welcoming his fishing buddies who still bring him fresh fish and tell stories about life on the water. Al can still prepare abalone and other seafood as good as most, and I’ve had some great meals with him over the years.

His family is looking forward to the friends who will be joining Al for his 90th birthday celebration. Happy birthday Turk!!

Comments (1)

Comments
Please keep the topic of messages relevant to the subject of the article. Please increase the credibility of your post by including your full name and city when commenting. Although we are under no obligation to do so, we reserve the right to remove any comments we deem to be defamatory, libelous or otherwise inappropriate.
Name:
Comment:
Code:*