Willard Cole:
CLASS OF 1964
Benson High SchoolClass of 1964
Omaha, NE
Nebraska Trade SchoolClass of 1967
Milford, NE
Southeast Community CollegeClass of 1967
Milford, NE
Willard's Story
Life
My Spouse
I met Tracey (she's the woman in the picture, only a generation younger) on a project in Charlotte, NC. The first thing that struck me about her was her intelligence and commitment to being excellent at her job; it's not the first thing anyone would expect me to say, I know. It's true, though! She's a native of the area and the best friend and partner I've ever had or could want. She claims to be a geek in training, but she's too extroverted to be really good at it. Tracey and I love to cook and play with our grandchildren. Now that we're in Cocoa, though, we love to look at the ocean outside our back door. She has changed more in my life than I can tell you. We're blessed to be in love with exactly the right person at the right time. She is the exact center of my universe. She's the woman to "ride the river" with for sure.
We recently moved to our condo on the ocean near the Kennedy Space Center after I retired the first time. It's a great view and tremendously peaceful. We are truly blessed to be here. Always wanted to be in space program. LOL
Tracey was a deputy sheriff, moved to IT for the Sheriff (where she was the queen) and is now at Deloitte just a few feet from me! We love working together again. There's acgreat comfort in being near each other.
Divorces
Two. I don't recommend it, really. Except that it's sometimes a necessary evil. I trust no one of our generation set out to get married & divorced. Both of them gave me the opportunity to be a new person. An improved one. I like to think I took advantage of that opportunity. Enmity? A bit. Not enough to worry with. Looking back? Just to recognize that the ruts we get ourselves into are prisons of our own devising (there's an Eagles lyric in there somewhere). I hope I used both of them as a chance to be a better person. Regrets? Would they do anybody any good? I try not to dwell on my mistakes.
My Kids
I have three sets of children. Derek from my first marriage (to a Westside girl after we killed a rabbit), Jennifer from my second marriage (to Connie Carder) and Connie's two (Cris and Jule) that I adopted. I even raised some of my grandchildren for a while. Tracey and I have two children -- Kayleigh who is 24 at this writing and Keith who is 22. I have nine grandchildren, only four of whom I am permitted to see, though a few of the others stay in touch. Tracey & I have two grandchildren (Amelia) born last year to Kayleigh and Jonah (Keith's son joined us in June.. Julena, Josh and Jordon (and Jordy's daughter Charlie) are a wonderful part of our lives. I'm blessed to have so many children, grandchildren and my great-granddaughter sharing their lives with us. I hold Amelia and Jonah and Charlie and feel a completely inexpressible, incomprehensible and unexpected joy. God must laugh at me. He/She knew I didn't want children. When does God laugh at you?
My Job
I'm still a knee-jerk teacher. Don't ask a question if you don't want a longer-than-expected answer. Find a subject and I'll probably have a lecture on it. Jennifer told me once that she was in college before she asked me a question I didn't have an answer for.
It seems I've had a number of careers, all while staying inside the confines of what we now call IT. Started in Omaha, moved to Atlanta, Chicago, Omaha, Atlanta, several places in NC and now to the coast of Florida. IT was my refuge so I didn't have to talk with anyone and I somehow became known for my communications and speaking skills. Go figure.
Seventeen years with Data General (see the book, Soul of a New Machine) gave me the opportunity to become an extensive knowledge of databases and hardware and that's been my life for fifty years. I had the good fortune to be a consultant with Oracle three times in eighteen years and make some changes in the products and delivery as an individual contributor. There was a time when I'm sure all 107,000 people knew my email or phone. I moved to IBM in "competitive sales." IBM allowed me to re-invent myself before they sent me packing for getting old. I participate in social media and have been asked to write a book on the database. I still write and contribute on LinkedIn.
I spent almost my entire career on the bleeding edge, doing things for the first time. I think of "bleeding edge." this way: I've been sent to do things that haven't been done before, things that were considered impossible or just seeing the possibilities in the world. There's no roadmap or template. Just background, intuition, tenacity and friends. It's not been glamorous. No photo shoots or People articles. LOL. But satisfying. Challenges motivate me more than anything else. And it all seemed normal at the time. I've lived through -- and contributed to -- every revolution in computing except the first one. All of which means I have no fixed technical point of view.
I told my older children that work falls into two categories: Either you do what you love and let the chips fall as they will or you do what supports your joys. I chose the latter, more or less through inertia Never could figure out what I loved to do. I guess five decades in computing is the sum and substance of the decision. We're trying to figure out what I'll be doing once I really retire. from Deloitte. God knows, no one wants me simply sitting around, especially me.
Depression
I had two sever bouts of depression. The first one ended with my first marriage. If you saw me smile at BHS, it was probably because of Pat. The second lasted the final several years of my second marriage. Now I can't find a reason to be sad. the partnership Tracey has been fantastic.
BHS family notes
> Nine of us graduated from BHS, my father ('38) and his two brothers, my three cousins (Richard who is also '64), my two sisters and I. Turns out my grandfather knew the first principal, too, since she was his elementary school teacher. It was a small world. There are too many stories to share here. Some of them actually true.
> Do you know why we're "bunnies?" Miss MacNamara saw the bunnies out playing in the fields around BHS when it was built. Go figure..
> I think I had the record for semesters spent with Miss Line (five out of eight). Never did read The House of the Seven Gables or finish The Yearling. The first thing she said to me was, "Are you Willard Cole's son?" Fortunately, Dad hadn't annoyed her. He was terrified of her. Claimed she slapped the fellow behind him so hard it loosened the bolts in the desk.
> Earl ('38, too) was the Chief of Staff of the Allied Forces in Vietnam. He irked the hell out of some powerful people because he was already a general officer and he'd risen from National Guard recruit (at 16).
Education
Toasted NU and ended up at NVTS (now Southeastern Community College). All sorts of professional education. The work at DG's skunkworks in RTP was a massive learning experience since almost everyone aroun...Expand for more
d me had advanced degrees. They taught me a lot about the theory of databases and operating systems. I taught them practicum and customer relations.
Favorites
> Song: He Ain't Heavy. Almost anything by the Beach Boys or Jimmy Buffett or Zac Brown. Lots of John Denver. Paul Simon and The Eagles. Songs that say something.
> Classical: Fourth Movement, 9th Symphony. Fanfare for the Common Man, too. Bach.
> Shuffle. I have hundreds of songs on my iPhone and I let Shuffle decide what I'll hear next. The funny thing is that I can hear the intro and some songs will instantly conjure up all the places, people and feelings I've associated it with. It'll sneak up on you and provoke a smile or a tear.
> Place: Wherever my wife is. Our favorite place is right here looking out at the water and seeing the birds, mullet, sharks & dolphin.
> Car: My Datsun 1600. It was a blast to drive. Tracey would have made the scene perfect.
> BHS class: Biology our freshman year. I was seated next to Pat Dewey, the sweetest person at BHS, who introduced me to the whole bloody student body. Dean Brown allowed me to do something truly extraordinary: He let me run the research project for his PhD program. I've challenged my children and grandchildren to beat that. Not only did I run the project, we found new fungi.
> Movies: The Magnificent Seven (changed my life), Field of Dreams, A River Runs Through It, Dr. Strangelove, all the Bourne movies, almost anything Ron Howard directed, George Lucas's works (didn't we live American Graffiti?), Steven Spielberg's works. Okay, I can still be a bit too serious at times.
> Book: Centennial, see the movie list, too. Louis L'Amour's works. Rising From the Plains, "Godel, Escher, Bach" (you should read the Foreward, this book changed my understanding of computing and music) and A River Runs Through It. To Kill A Mockingbird. I hope every one of us wanted to be Atticus Finch. Jennifer thoroughly Scout for a long time.
Travel
I wanted out of Omaha. Who didn't? My employers gave me the opportunity to see lots of America and tour Europe several times. I lost a creative writing contest and spent a week in Israel. Spoke Danish on the flight back to the U.S. Was laughed at in Paris for speaking French. Tracey and I have traveled a bit in the U.S. and visited both Costa Rica and Mexico. I want her to see Europe and the places everyone talks about.
/etc
> Who knows where life will take us? Our dreams and hopes are small, but they're ours. I'm sure you didn't intend to live this long. I sure as the world didn't. Or be what you are and where you are.
> We've traveled the country a bit. We have to go back to California to do the wine tour. We'll let someone else drive..........
> Fell in love with Costa Rica six years ago. Weren't that excited by Mexico.
> In case you're wondering, Pat became a teacher and lives, or lived, in the Ponca, NE, area on a farm. Not what i expected but she seemed happy when we exchanged letters a few years ago.
> Do you feel old? God knows I don't, except for my knees. You're probably 70+, too. There are so many interesting challenges in the world and I'm ready for most of them. I hope you're still ready to tackle the world and make it a better place. Hope you're still learning, too.
> Do your children and grandchildren wonder what it was like growing up in the sixties? In Omaha? I told my wife that we all knew we were dead if there was war because Omaha was one of the top three targets. Seems it was just what we grew up with.
> Do you remember real hippies? Maybe you were one. My children and grandchildren refer to someone as a hippie and I laugh because they wouldn't know a real hippie if they met one. And my wife wants a pastel VW bus with flowers painted on it. That's hysterical. So do I.
> Have you been accused of not fulfilling your potential? And who measured our potentials? Is there a version of a potentiometer for people? Outward Bound has this motto: "You don't know how far you can go until you get there." I hope you're not "there" yet.
> Gotta say I don't miss Omaha. Just before my father died, he asked me take him on a tour of our old houses and places we knew so well. He and mom enjoyed the tour. We talked about the people we knew in the places we passed, the memories held by those places, the places we loved, the places of our lives together. And then I felt like the last line of "Rising From the Plains." Let's get the hell out of here. Mom and dad died within a few months of that last tour. They are seldom far from my thoughts.
> My little sister, Marianne died last year. She was 62. She was surrounded by her family who adored her. She was my first child, you know. Mom and Dad spent too much time saving their marriage and it fell to Barb and I to raise her. She did well in spite of us. Talk about a hippie chick! Long blond hair she ironed. The last time we were together, I saw that characteristic look on her face: I dare you!
> I hope you've watched "A River Runs Through It." It's essentially a true story. Like Norman, I can't get the words out of my head. I'm sure Miss Line, Miss Dietrich and (especially) Mrs. Stevens would be surprised.
> I have to thank Doris, Dean and Gertrude for their support. Doris loved my work in the plays, though she badgered me mercilessly in rehearsals. Dean would have been a great friend had he not left to Dean of Students at the University of Georgia. Gertrude pushed me in a different direction, though I don't know why. While lots of you read Conrad, she insisted I read Tom Jones by Henry Fielding. Long and not boring. It left me with a number of philosophical scars, though.
> Doing all those plays was great training for all the speaking I've done, whether face-to-face or in a ballroom full of fellow geeks. Thank you, Doris! Letting me be out front and control a room was very cool training. It's not in the books anywhere.
< Thank you, each and every one of you. School with you was special, both comforting and scary. I read about "bullying" and I have to wonder what he hell is going on. There were folks who tried to be bullies but they were backed down by the rest of us. Mike, Larry and the whole damned student body wouldn't put up with it. Imagine some idiot trying to bully another student in front of Fred Pisasale. Talk about funny.
> I hope you've loved deeply and unwisely at least once, held your baby and felt complete joy, heard the voice of God when you needed Him or Her, found the angel that led you home when you were scared and alone, reached out and helped a stranger, laughed genuinely, danced at a Waffle House. And I hope you keep dreaming big dreams. We're The Boomers and we moved the world.
You can find us on LinkedIn, FaceBook and Twitter. Stop by and say hello. There's a beer in the fridge with your name on it. Cheers, Bunnies! Let's look forward to our next contributions to the world.
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