I had Mr Smith my junior year of high school. He really challenged me with the advanced math (I still have trouble understanding the difference between cosin and tangents) but he worked hard to help me understand. One conversation I remember he explained the importance of following proper steps to solve a problem. He compared it to cooking where if you heat water in a pan and add oil, no problem, but if you heat oil, then add water, everything becomes a mess. That analogy stuck within me and has been quite useful.
I did not know Verle very will, or very long. I would see him while working out at the community center. He always had a smile. He had a presence about him that just invited conversation. Seeing Verle in the "the little glass room" , always made the day a bit brighter and the work out at least a bit more tolerable. My sincere regrets to the family.
Gosh, where to start. Verle taught me high school calculus, or rather, he tried, and he held my feet to the fire when I wasn't trying too. Many years later, we ran into each other at the Southwest Community Center, and I got to repay some of his many kindnesses by giving him some rudimentary swimming lessons. I don't think the chlorine agreed with him, but at least he really tried, and I loved to see him working out at SWCC, even out of the pool. He always had a smile or a kind word or two, and we had some marvelous conversations about politics and the bigger picture. Things just aren't the same at SWCC, knowing I will never again see him ducking sheepishly into the weight room or catch him fumbling for his pass. I will never again be able to introduce him to the swimmers I coach, highlighting the way that one generation passes knowledge to the next, and then the second generation passes knowledge to the third, etc. And still, the circles and cycles continue, but it all just seems a little sadder to me. I'm so sorry for his family's loss.
I had Mr Smith my junior year of high school. He really challenged me with the advanced math (I still have trouble understanding the difference between cosin and tangents) but he worked hard to help me understand. One conversation I remember he explained the importance of following proper steps to solve a problem. He compared it to cooking where if you heat water in a pan and add oil, no problem, but if you heat oil, then add water, everything becomes a mess. That analogy stuck within me and has been quite useful.
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Derek
I did not know Verle very will, or very long. I would see him while working out at the community center. He always had a smile. He had a presence about him that just invited conversation. Seeing Verle in the "the little glass room" , always made the day a bit brighter and the work out at least a bit more tolerable. My sincere regrets to the family.
ReplyDeleteGosh, where to start. Verle taught me high school calculus, or rather, he tried, and he held my feet to the fire when I wasn't trying too. Many years later, we ran into each other at the Southwest Community Center, and I got to repay some of his many kindnesses by giving him some rudimentary swimming lessons. I don't think the chlorine agreed with him, but at least he really tried, and I loved to see him working out at SWCC, even out of the pool. He always had a smile or a kind word or two, and we had some marvelous conversations about politics and the bigger picture. Things just aren't the same at SWCC, knowing I will never again see him ducking sheepishly into the weight room or catch him fumbling for his pass. I will never again be able to introduce him to the swimmers I coach, highlighting the way that one generation passes knowledge to the next, and then the second generation passes knowledge to the third, etc. And still, the circles and cycles continue, but it all just seems a little sadder to me. I'm so sorry for his family's loss.
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