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Hullum’s Barber Shop owner Tom Hullum celebrated 70 years in 2019, as a barber in Burnet, and continued to put smiles on the faces of everyone who walks through his door. A pillar in the community for decades, Hullum’s Barber Shop served as a meeting place for townsfolk looking for a haircut or just to catch up on the latest gossip around town. File Photos -
The late Tom Hullum, owner of Hullum’s Barbershop on Burnet’s downtown square, spent his days cutting his clients hair and catching up on the latest community news. In this photo he is pictured with Glenn Willis in 2019, a long-time client. -
Jeff Hullum, son of the late Tom Hullman, took a break while he remembered fondly the Hullum’s Barber Shop his father owned and operated for decades. Hullum associate barber Dixie Harrison (in the mirror) gazed sadly through the shop’s front window. Raymond V. Whelan/Bulletin
Many locals remember Tom Hullum as one friendly and gentle person who smiled often and spoke well as he owned and operated his barbershop across from the Burnet County Courthouse through more than 70 years.
He died last Thursday at 94. “Tom was a good friend of mine,” Burnet Mayor Gary Wideman told the Bulletin Jan. 8. “He gave an awful lot to our community. He was an original. He lived in Burnet since it was mostly dirt roads. He will be missed. But he has a big family, and they will continue to be a great presence in Burnet.”
No way was Hullum just another barber. During his long years, he lived a productive and purposeful life, replete with personal accomplishment and constructive dedication to community and country.
Besides barbering hair, Hullum served as a lieutenant in the U.S. National Guard. He was a member of the Burnet Volunteer Fire Department. For several years, he was a member of the Burnet City Council. He was president of the Burnet Cemetery Lot Owners Association. He served as the 2014 Bluebonnet Festival parade marshal.
Also, as a sprightly and voluble auctioneer, Hullum raised thousands of dollars for local charities. And, he served several years as president of the Texas Barber Board.
Just five years ago, the Burnet Chamber of Commerce named Hullum the Burnet Citizen of the Year.
“My father was a good man,” Jeff Hullum told the Bulletin Jan. 8. “He was good for the community.”
(Find Hullum’s obituary on Page 7).
Earlier this week, during Monday morning after the funeral, Jeff, his wife Tammy and Dixie Harrison (one of the Hullum associate barbers) sat quietly together inside the barber shop, trying to determine what might become of the premises.
“We don’t know what to do yet,” Jeff said. “My father loved this place. He loved his customers. It is kind of an historical place. It is super, super tough. We are trying to figure it all out.”
Jeff indicated an old “corn-plant” he purchased when he was 18 still stands about 11-feet tall in a corner near the shop’s front door.
“My father loved it,” Jeff recalled. “He watered it all the time.”
“I guess all the talking men did here (in the barber shop) helped make it grow,” Tammy quipped. “Where else in Burnet but in here (the shop) would anybody be able to stop, talk and hear about everything going on?”
As Jeff, Tammy and Dixie chatted, a long, rectangular, laugh-out-loud wooden sign remained visible to outsiders through the shop front window, clearly placed there to tell pedestrians and potential customers when the shop would open and when it would close.
“We’re always here unless we’re gone,” the sign reads.
Yes, Tom Hullum is gone. However, countless folks will never forget him. Because for so many years, he helped them discover new self-respect, as they gazed at their heads with freshly cut hair in the Hullum barber shop mirror.
They know - Mister Hullum will always be there.
