At his funeral service, the Rev. Donna Kendrick Philips called Rueben Eichmeyer a “true son of Marthasville.” No one could argue that point.The publisher emeritus of this newspaper and former owner and publisher of The Marthasville Record, was synonymous with Marthasville. He was born and raised in Marthasville, educated in Marthasville and, last Friday, died in Marthasville.On Monday he was laid to rest in St. Paul’s U.C.C. Cemetery in Marthasville.Except for a brief two-year stint serving his country in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, he spent his entire life in Marthasville.Eichmeyer did more than call Marthasville home. He gave back to the town, the community he loved. He didn’t sit on the sidelines, he got involved. He made his community a better place.Eichmeyer served as Marthasville’s mayor, as president of its park board and was a member of the town’s volunteer fire and ambulance departments. He also was a member of Daniel Boone Post 180.But his most significant contribution to Marthasville was achieved through his newspaper. He made his living and his legacy with a typewriter and a camera at The Marthasville Record newspaper where he worked for over 50 years.His trade was words, the Rev. Kendrick Philips, said in her eulogy at St. Paul’s U.C.C. and his newspaper was the gold standard for small community newspapers. We wouldn’t argue that point either.That’s not to say he didn’t perform other duties at the newspaper. In a small-town newspaper with a small staff, everyone does a little bit of everything.That was definitely the case with Eichmeyer. He started out as a printer’s devil, graduated to hand-setting the type, composing forms for job work and running and repairing the antique presses that were used to print the paper.He sold ads, ran a linotype machine, developed photographs, delivered the papers, handled subscriptions and swept the floors. In other words, he did it all.Eichmeyer was raised on a farm but, as a feature story about him pointed out, he realized early in life that he would rather have ink on his hands than soil. More importantly, like all of us committed to the vocation of newspapering, he also had ink in his blood.It has been said that in a small community, it is the local newspaper that serves in a large way as the glue that pulls things together. That was the case with The Record and Marthasville.Eichmeyer chronicled the comings and goings of people in Marthasville, reported on the community events and covered city government. Toy drives at local schools and photographs of over-sized cantaloupes and sweet potatoes were as important to his readers as local tax issues. He covered all of it with equal tenacity and verve. He didn’t win any Pulitzer Prizes, but his coverage of his community was appreciated and valued by his loyal readers.He had a gift for photography and his camera lens recorded the visual history of Marthasville and its inhabitants and his work lives on in scrapbooks and picture frames to this day.Working at The Record was a labor of love for Eichmeyer replete with 14-hour days and no shortage of weekend assignments. His wife Mabel and his three daughters, Melissa, Rita and Glenda, all pitched in to get the newspaper out each and every week.When the flood of 1993 damaged his famed hand-fed Babcock cylinder press to the point where it would no longer print, he approached The Missourian Publishing Co. to help him get his paper out.That led to a long and sturdy relationship based on mutual trust and respect which later led The Missourian to acquiring The Record when he and Mabel decided to retire in 2001. He had other suitors for the paper, but wanted someone he could trust to take care of his baby. That meant a lot to us as did the counsel he provided after the sale.He remained an advocate even when we moved the paper out of Marthasville. As long as we covered Marthasville, he was our cheerleader.We will miss him. So will Marthasville.