Grandpa Coleman aka Patrick Coleman, Sr. aka Patrick Coleman, Ph.D. passed peacefully on Sunday, November 2, 2014 at 5:45pm. He is survived by his son, Patrick Coleman, eleven grand children, Stephanie Williams, Rich Williams, Donny Williams, Kelsey Derringer, Billy Derringer, Haley, Kayln, Kerrigan, Thomas, Alex and Isla Coleman, and several great grand children, Lex, Donavan and Charlie. A funeral mass will be held at 10:30am Friday, November 7, 2014 at St. Paul Catholic Church, 1000 W Wenger Rd, Englewood, OH.Burial is immediately after approx 12pm at Preble Memory Gardens, 3377 U.S. 35, West Alexandria, OH. He was born in New York City on February 24, 1932 to Richard Coleman and Julia Coleman (Brew) who had recently immigrated from Ireland. In 1944 his family moved to Vancouver, WA where as a teen he became a national champion in both boxing and gymnastics.
In 1949 he graduated from high school and was the first member of his family to ever attend college. He attended Idaho State University on a full scholarship for boxing. At the end of his sophomore year Idaho State dropped their boxing program and he enlisted in the U.S. Army. He did 2 tours to Korea and attained the rank of staff sergeant. During his second tour he was selected for the Army Boxing team where he finished his enlistment. He then attended Eastern Washington State University where he was also a member of the boxing team and finished his bachelors degree in Education. Upon graduating his first position as a teacher was on Vashon Island (in the Puget Sound). He taught math, science, PE and was the high school baseball coach and assistant basketball coach. During his second year teaching while traveling as a passenger in a car to the school Christmas party the car was struck by a train and he was pronounced dead on arrival to the hospital. An orderly noticed that he was still moving and he was then taken for surgery. He had broken his right arm in so many places that they wanted to amputate but he convinced them that he would prefer to die with his arm in tact. He also broke his pelvis and two vertebra in his lumbar spine. The doctors prognosis was that if he survived that he would never walk again. 6 weeks later he asked the doctors when he could leave and they said when you can walk on your own and go to the bathroom, which he proceeded to do. At that time he discussed with his brother what he had experienced in the time that he was declared dead and his brother told him never to discuss it with anyone else or they would have him committed. Years later he shared with me that he remembered hovering above his body and hearing the doctors discuss how grave his situation was and that he was unlikely to survive. Then he was in another place with a bunch of others like himself and they were waiting for a gate or curtain to open and they would go through it. He tried to describe this location in several ways but said it was very difficult to describe but that it was a very peaceful place and all of his questions were answered. Then he was approached by someone in charge and they said it wasn't his time yet and that he had 3 things that he must do before it would be his time. Suddenly he was back in his body and could once again feel the pain of his injuries and he heard the orderly exclaim, "something is moving in there."After his accident he lived with various family members for the next few years while he was trying to rehab from his injuries and to make sense of what he was told to do. He deciphered the instructions he received, "to help those who can't help themselves." and decided to dedicate his life to helping people with mental and physical disabilities. In that era the vast majority of people with physical or mental disabilities were institutionalized, so he took a job as an orderly in an institution. His first assignment was to floor with children that were diagnosed with mental retardation or autism and his primary responsibility was to clean up after them in the bathroom. He said these children would urinate and defecate everywhere except in the toilets. After several weeks of just cleaning up after these children he decided that he was going to try to get them to use the bathroom properly and he started working with the child that he said made the worst mess of them all. He noticed that this child had an affinity for M&Ms during snack time and decided to use the M&Ms as a reward for the child if he would use the toilet properly. Within a week he helped this child begin to use the toilet properly and then began teaching the other children. Within a month he had helped almost all of the children in his hall to begin using the toilet properly by initially using the M&Ms and then using positive reinforcement, shaking their hand publicly and announcing so that the other children could hear his praise. His boss took notice of his efforts in training these "untrainable" children and fired him, exclaiming that if these children are trainable then there is no reason for them to be institutionalized. Getting fired from this position threw fuel on his fire to help these children and was the motivation for him to go back to school and get a masters degree in special education. It was in the wake of having been fired that he met his soon to be wife. In July 1965 he married Charlene Holly Sprester in Seaside, CA. Shortly after their marriage Charlene "Chon" realized that she was pregnant and wanted to move home to Smethport, PA where their first daughter, Kelley Sue was born on April 14, 1966. Shortly thereafter his brother helped to find him a teaching position in Tacoma, WA and they drove from Pennsylvania to the state of Washington across the Canadian Rockies with a 5 month old baby. After arriving to Washington Chon realized that she was expecting their second baby, Helen Marie who was born on June 22, 1967. Once again home sickness would bring them back to Pennsylvania. Realizing Chon's attraction to the area he applied to the University of Buffalo where he completed his Masters in Special Education. While completing his Masters they lived in Little Valley, NY - just an hour from Spethport, PA. Near the end of the first year of his Masters program Chon was pregnant again with their third child and first son, Patrick Neil, who was born in Salamanca, NY on January 20, 1969. After completing his Masters Degree he was accepted in the Doctoral program at the University of Cincinnati where he completed all of his classroom hours but his dissertation was not accepted because there was no published research available for conditioning/training children with disabilities in the way he described. He then transferred to Wright State University as a Professor promised to publish his findings if he would design and supervise the studies. He spent 3 years designing and running studies at the Celina Branch Campus under the supervision of this professor but when the studies were submitted for publication they were denied and therefore his dissertation was still in limbo. However, it was at this time that he worked with a group of professors to draft a new law call public law 94-142 that was used to solidify the field of special education across the US. This new law would guaranteed a free appropriate public education to each child with a disability. It also made those with intimate knowledge of how to implement the law a hot commodity as every state in the country wanted to get in compliance with the law so that they could receive the federal funding. Chon announced that they were expecting their 4th child and their second son was born in Celina, OH on April 10, 1974. With a Masters Degree + 60hrs and his dissertation under review he accepted his first job in Pierre, SD working in coordination with the ARC, the South Dakota State Board of Education and the Sioux Nation Council on Education. In less than 6 months he helped all 3 organizations to gain compliance and receive federal funding under PL 94-142. He was asked to present the results of his work to the state congress and received a 10 minute standing ovation. The Chief of the Sioux Nation then bestowed upon him the title of Honorary Chief of the Sioux Nation. He was given the full Sioux Indian Chief dress and even smoked a piece pipe with the Chief. He realized that he work was benefitting a lot of people but that there was still a significant population that were institutionalized and decided to turn his efforts toward a solution for this group. He returned to Celina, Ohio and discussed his plans with the Attorney that helped draft PL 94-142. The new plan was to create a halfway program. They worked together to spearhead a program called the Ottawa Valley Center, in Lima, OH in which they converted an old TB hospital into a halfway home and training center for the mentally and physically handicapped that had previously been institutionalized. It was a smashing success and became the model for programs that were starting across the country. They relocated to Lima, OH to supervise this pilot program. Unfortunately, his focus and attention to this new venture left his personal life out of balance which resulted in separation and divorce in 1976. He decided to shift his focus to being a family man as he was given full custody of all 4 children. He took a position as the Assistant Director of Special Education in Muscatine, IA and lived in a small town called Wilton, IA. HIs goal was to help the school district to gain compliance with PL 94-142 which he did in 9 months. The following year he was offered a position as Director of the River Valley Center in Rock Valley, IA again to gain compliance with PL 94-142. While in this position his Dissertation was finally accepted and he received his Ph.D. He was then offered the Director of Special Ed for Natrona County school district in the Casper, WY to establish compliance and restore federal funding, which he completed in less than 2 years. He then took a position at the state home for boys in Casper as the Director for 3 yrs. In the spring of 1985 they relocated to Rock Springs, WY where he was the Director of Special Ed on a 1yr contract to gain compliance. He then took a 1 yr contract with the Navajo nation in New Mexico to create an appropriate education for Navajo students. He then relocated to Rockton, IL for 3yrs as the Director of Special Ed. At this point he decided it was time to start working toward retirement and in an effort to repurchase his retirement in Ohio he took the position as the Special Ed teacher at Tri-County North High School where he would teach and coach for the next 18 yrs. He applied the same principles of teaching through positive reinforcement and rewards with his students at TCN. He was truly adored by the majority of his students. He finally retire at the age of 75. He was an avid weight lifter and runner even into his retirement years, which he attributed as the reason he looked decades younger than his actual age. He was a scholar, a teacher, a father, a friend and devout Christian. His commitment to help those who could not help themselves was evident throughout his life.
May He Rest in Peace
In 1949 he graduated from high school and was the first member of his family to ever attend college. He attended Idaho State University on a full scholarship for boxing. At the end of his sophomore year Idaho State dropped their boxing program and he enlisted in the U.S. Army. He did 2 tours to Korea and attained the rank of staff sergeant. During his second tour he was selected for the Army Boxing team where he finished his enlistment. He then attended Eastern Washington State University where he was also a member of the boxing team and finished his bachelors degree in Education. Upon graduating his first position as a teacher was on Vashon Island (in the Puget Sound). He taught math, science, PE and was the high school baseball coach and assistant basketball coach. During his second year teaching while traveling as a passenger in a car to the school Christmas party the car was struck by a train and he was pronounced dead on arrival to the hospital. An orderly noticed that he was still moving and he was then taken for surgery. He had broken his right arm in so many places that they wanted to amputate but he convinced them that he would prefer to die with his arm in tact. He also broke his pelvis and two vertebra in his lumbar spine. The doctors prognosis was that if he survived that he would never walk again. 6 weeks later he asked the doctors when he could leave and they said when you can walk on your own and go to the bathroom, which he proceeded to do. At that time he discussed with his brother what he had experienced in the time that he was declared dead and his brother told him never to discuss it with anyone else or they would have him committed. Years later he shared with me that he remembered hovering above his body and hearing the doctors discuss how grave his situation was and that he was unlikely to survive. Then he was in another place with a bunch of others like himself and they were waiting for a gate or curtain to open and they would go through it. He tried to describe this location in several ways but said it was very difficult to describe but that it was a very peaceful place and all of his questions were answered. Then he was approached by someone in charge and they said it wasn't his time yet and that he had 3 things that he must do before it would be his time. Suddenly he was back in his body and could once again feel the pain of his injuries and he heard the orderly exclaim, "something is moving in there."After his accident he lived with various family members for the next few years while he was trying to rehab from his injuries and to make sense of what he was told to do. He deciphered the instructions he received, "to help those who can't help themselves." and decided to dedicate his life to helping people with mental and physical disabilities. In that era the vast majority of people with physical or mental disabilities were institutionalized, so he took a job as an orderly in an institution. His first assignment was to floor with children that were diagnosed with mental retardation or autism and his primary responsibility was to clean up after them in the bathroom. He said these children would urinate and defecate everywhere except in the toilets. After several weeks of just cleaning up after these children he decided that he was going to try to get them to use the bathroom properly and he started working with the child that he said made the worst mess of them all. He noticed that this child had an affinity for M&Ms during snack time and decided to use the M&Ms as a reward for the child if he would use the toilet properly. Within a week he helped this child begin to use the toilet properly and then began teaching the other children. Within a month he had helped almost all of the children in his hall to begin using the toilet properly by initially using the M&Ms and then using positive reinforcement, shaking their hand publicly and announcing so that the other children could hear his praise. His boss took notice of his efforts in training these "untrainable" children and fired him, exclaiming that if these children are trainable then there is no reason for them to be institutionalized. Getting fired from this position threw fuel on his fire to help these children and was the motivation for him to go back to school and get a masters degree in special education. It was in the wake of having been fired that he met his soon to be wife. In July 1965 he married Charlene Holly Sprester in Seaside, CA. Shortly after their marriage Charlene "Chon" realized that she was pregnant and wanted to move home to Smethport, PA where their first daughter, Kelley Sue was born on April 14, 1966. Shortly thereafter his brother helped to find him a teaching position in Tacoma, WA and they drove from Pennsylvania to the state of Washington across the Canadian Rockies with a 5 month old baby. After arriving to Washington Chon realized that she was expecting their second baby, Helen Marie who was born on June 22, 1967. Once again home sickness would bring them back to Pennsylvania. Realizing Chon's attraction to the area he applied to the University of Buffalo where he completed his Masters in Special Education. While completing his Masters they lived in Little Valley, NY - just an hour from Spethport, PA. Near the end of the first year of his Masters program Chon was pregnant again with their third child and first son, Patrick Neil, who was born in Salamanca, NY on January 20, 1969. After completing his Masters Degree he was accepted in the Doctoral program at the University of Cincinnati where he completed all of his classroom hours but his dissertation was not accepted because there was no published research available for conditioning/training children with disabilities in the way he described. He then transferred to Wright State University as a Professor promised to publish his findings if he would design and supervise the studies. He spent 3 years designing and running studies at the Celina Branch Campus under the supervision of this professor but when the studies were submitted for publication they were denied and therefore his dissertation was still in limbo. However, it was at this time that he worked with a group of professors to draft a new law call public law 94-142 that was used to solidify the field of special education across the US. This new law would guaranteed a free appropriate public education to each child with a disability. It also made those with intimate knowledge of how to implement the law a hot commodity as every state in the country wanted to get in compliance with the law so that they could receive the federal funding. Chon announced that they were expecting their 4th child and their second son was born in Celina, OH on April 10, 1974. With a Masters Degree + 60hrs and his dissertation under review he accepted his first job in Pierre, SD working in coordination with the ARC, the South Dakota State Board of Education and the Sioux Nation Council on Education. In less than 6 months he helped all 3 organizations to gain compliance and receive federal funding under PL 94-142. He was asked to present the results of his work to the state congress and received a 10 minute standing ovation. The Chief of the Sioux Nation then bestowed upon him the title of Honorary Chief of the Sioux Nation. He was given the full Sioux Indian Chief dress and even smoked a piece pipe with the Chief. He realized that he work was benefitting a lot of people but that there was still a significant population that were institutionalized and decided to turn his efforts toward a solution for this group. He returned to Celina, Ohio and discussed his plans with the Attorney that helped draft PL 94-142. The new plan was to create a halfway program. They worked together to spearhead a program called the Ottawa Valley Center, in Lima, OH in which they converted an old TB hospital into a halfway home and training center for the mentally and physically handicapped that had previously been institutionalized. It was a smashing success and became the model for programs that were starting across the country. They relocated to Lima, OH to supervise this pilot program. Unfortunately, his focus and attention to this new venture left his personal life out of balance which resulted in separation and divorce in 1976. He decided to shift his focus to being a family man as he was given full custody of all 4 children. He took a position as the Assistant Director of Special Education in Muscatine, IA and lived in a small town called Wilton, IA. HIs goal was to help the school district to gain compliance with PL 94-142 which he did in 9 months. The following year he was offered a position as Director of the River Valley Center in Rock Valley, IA again to gain compliance with PL 94-142. While in this position his Dissertation was finally accepted and he received his Ph.D. He was then offered the Director of Special Ed for Natrona County school district in the Casper, WY to establish compliance and restore federal funding, which he completed in less than 2 years. He then took a position at the state home for boys in Casper as the Director for 3 yrs. In the spring of 1985 they relocated to Rock Springs, WY where he was the Director of Special Ed on a 1yr contract to gain compliance. He then took a 1 yr contract with the Navajo nation in New Mexico to create an appropriate education for Navajo students. He then relocated to Rockton, IL for 3yrs as the Director of Special Ed. At this point he decided it was time to start working toward retirement and in an effort to repurchase his retirement in Ohio he took the position as the Special Ed teacher at Tri-County North High School where he would teach and coach for the next 18 yrs. He applied the same principles of teaching through positive reinforcement and rewards with his students at TCN. He was truly adored by the majority of his students. He finally retire at the age of 75. He was an avid weight lifter and runner even into his retirement years, which he attributed as the reason he looked decades younger than his actual age. He was a scholar, a teacher, a father, a friend and devout Christian. His commitment to help those who could not help themselves was evident throughout his life.
May He Rest in Peace
Grandpa Coleman aka Patrick Coleman, Sr. aka Patrick Coleman, Ph.D. passed peacefully on Sunday, November 2, 2014 at 5:45pm. He is survived by his son, Patrick Coleman, eleven grand children, Stephanie Williams, Rich Williams, Donny Williams, Kelsey Derringer, Billy Derringer, Haley, Kayln, Kerrigan, Thomas, Alex and Isla Coleman, and several great grand children, Lex, Donavan and Charlie. A funeral mass will be held at 10:30am Friday, November 7, 2014 at St. Paul Catholic Church, 1000 W Wenger Rd, Englewood, OH.Burial is immediately after approx 12pm at Preble Memory Gardens, 3377 U.S. 35, West Alexandria, OH. He was born in New York City on February 24, 1932 to Richard Coleman and Julia Coleman (Brew) who had recently immigrated from Ireland. In 1944 his family moved to Vancouver, WA where as a teen he became a national champion in both boxing and gymnastics.
In 1949 he graduated from high school and was the first member of his family to ever attend college. He attended Idaho State University on a full scholarship for boxing. At the end of his sophomore year Idaho State dropped their boxing program and he enlisted in the U.S. Army. He did 2 tours to Korea and attained the rank of staff sergeant. During his second tour he was selected for the Army Boxing team where he finished his enlistment. He then attended Eastern Washington State University where he was also a member of the boxing team and finished his bachelors degree in Education. Upon graduating his first position as a teacher was on Vashon Island (in the Puget Sound). He taught math, science, PE and was the high school baseball coach and assistant basketball coach. During his second year teaching while traveling as a passenger in a car to the school Christmas party the car was struck by a train and he was pronounced dead on arrival to the hospital. An orderly noticed that he was still moving and he was then taken for surgery. He had broken his right arm in so many places that they wanted to amputate but he convinced them that he would prefer to die with his arm in tact. He also broke his pelvis and two vertebra in his lumbar spine. The doctors prognosis was that if he survived that he would never walk again. 6 weeks later he asked the doctors when he could leave and they said when you can walk on your own and go to the bathroom, which he proceeded to do. At that time he discussed with his brother what he had experienced in the time that he was declared dead and his brother told him never to discuss it with anyone else or they would have him committed. Years later he shared with me that he remembered hovering above his body and hearing the doctors discuss how grave his situation was and that he was unlikely to survive. Then he was in another place with a bunch of others like himself and they were waiting for a gate or curtain to open and they would go through it. He tried to describe this location in several ways but said it was very difficult to describe but that it was a very peaceful place and all of his questions were answered. Then he was approached by someone in charge and they said it wasn't his time yet and that he had 3 things that he must do before it would be his time. Suddenly he was back in his body and could once again feel the pain of his injuries and he heard the orderly exclaim, "something is moving in there."After his accident he lived with various family members for the next few years while he was trying to rehab from his injuries and to make sense of what he was told to do. He deciphered the instructions he received, "to help those who can't help themselves." and decided to dedicate his life to helping people with mental and physical disabilities. In that era the vast majority of people with physical or mental disabilities were institutionalized, so he took a job as an orderly in an institution. His first assignment was to floor with children that were diagnosed with mental retardation or autism and his primary responsibility was to clean up after them in the bathroom. He said these children would urinate and defecate everywhere except in the toilets. After several weeks of just cleaning up after these children he decided that he was going to try to get them to use the bathroom properly and he started working with the child that he said made the worst mess of them all. He noticed that this child had an affinity for M&Ms during snack time and decided to use the M&Ms as a reward for the child if he would use the toilet properly. Within a week he helped this child begin to use the toilet properly and then began teaching the other children. Within a month he had helped almost all of the children in his hall to begin using the toilet properly by initially using the M&Ms and then using positive reinforcement, shaking their hand publicly and announcing so that the other children could hear his praise. His boss took notice of his efforts in training these "untrainable" children and fired him, exclaiming that if these children are trainable then there is no reason for them to be institutionalized. Getting fired from this position threw fuel on his fire to help these children and was the motivation for him to go back to school and get a masters degree in special education. It was in the wake of having been fired that he met his soon to be wife. In July 1965 he married Charlene Holly Sprester in Seaside, CA. Shortly after their marriage Charlene "Chon" realized that she was pregnant and wanted to move home to Smethport, PA where their first daughter, Kelley Sue was born on April 14, 1966. Shortly thereafter his brother helped to find him a teaching position in Tacoma, WA and they drove from Pennsylvania to the state of Washington across the Canadian Rockies with a 5 month old baby. After arriving to Washington Chon realized that she was expecting their second baby, Helen Marie who was born on June 22, 1967. Once again home sickness would bring them back to Pennsylvania. Realizing Chon's attraction to the area he applied to the University of Buffalo where he completed his Masters in Special Education. While completing his Masters they lived in Little Valley, NY - just an hour from Spethport, PA. Near the end of the first year of his Masters program Chon was pregnant again with their third child and first son, Patrick Neil, who was born in Salamanca, NY on January 20, 1969. After completing his Masters Degree he was accepted in the Doctoral program at the University of Cincinnati where he completed all of his classroom hours but his dissertation was not accepted because there was no published research available for conditioning/training children with disabilities in the way he described. He then transferred to Wright State University as a Professor promised to publish his findings if he would design and supervise the studies. He spent 3 years designing and running studies at the Celina Branch Campus under the supervision of this professor but when the studies were submitted for publication they were denied and therefore his dissertation was still in limbo. However, it was at this time that he worked with a group of professors to draft a new law call public law 94-142 that was used to solidify the field of special education across the US. This new law would guaranteed a free appropriate public education to each child with a disability. It also made those with intimate knowledge of how to implement the law a hot commodity as every state in the country wanted to get in compliance with the law so that they could receive the federal funding. Chon announced that they were expecting their 4th child and their second son was born in Celina, OH on April 10, 1974. With a Masters Degree + 60hrs and his dissertation under review he accepted his first job in Pierre, SD working in coordination with the ARC, the South Dakota State Board of Education and the Sioux Nation Council on Education. In less than 6 months he helped all 3 organizations to gain compliance and receive federal funding under PL 94-142. He was asked to present the results of his work to the state congress and received a 10 minute standing ovation. The Chief of the Sioux Nation then bestowed upon him the title of Honorary Chief of the Sioux Nation. He was given the full Sioux Indian Chief dress and even smoked a piece pipe with the Chief. He realized that he work was benefitting a lot of people but that there was still a significant population that were institutionalized and decided to turn his efforts toward a solution for this group. He returned to Celina, Ohio and discussed his plans with the Attorney that helped draft PL 94-142. The new plan was to create a halfway program. They worked together to spearhead a program called the Ottawa Valley Center, in Lima, OH in which they converted an old TB hospital into a halfway home and training center for the mentally and physically handicapped that had previously been institutionalized. It was a smashing success and became the model for programs that were starting across the country. They relocated to Lima, OH to supervise this pilot program. Unfortunately, his focus and attention to this new venture left his personal life out of balance which resulted in separation and divorce in 1976. He decided to shift his focus to being a family man as he was given full custody of all 4 children. He took a position as the Assistant Director of Special Education in Muscatine, IA and lived in a small town called Wilton, IA. HIs goal was to help the school district to gain compliance with PL 94-142 which he did in 9 months. The following year he was offered a position as Director of the River Valley Center in Rock Valley, IA again to gain compliance with PL 94-142. While in this position his Dissertation was finally accepted and he received his Ph.D. He was then offered the Director of Special Ed for Natrona County school district in the Casper, WY to establish compliance and restore federal funding, which he completed in less than 2 years. He then took a position at the state home for boys in Casper as the Director for 3 yrs. In the spring of 1985 they relocated to Rock Springs, WY where he was the Director of Special Ed on a 1yr contract to gain compliance. He then took a 1 yr contract with the Navajo nation in New Mexico to create an appropriate education for Navajo students. He then relocated to Rockton, IL for 3yrs as the Director of Special Ed. At this point he decided it was time to start working toward retirement and in an effort to repurchase his retirement in Ohio he took the position as the Special Ed teacher at Tri-County North High School where he would teach and coach for the next 18 yrs. He applied the same principles of teaching through positive reinforcement and rewards with his students at TCN. He was truly adored by the majority of his students. He finally retire at the age of 75. He was an avid weight lifter and runner even into his retirement years, which he attributed as the reason he looked decades younger than his actual age. He was a scholar, a teacher, a father, a friend and devout Christian. His commitment to help those who could not help themselves was evident throughout his life.
May He Rest in Peace
In 1949 he graduated from high school and was the first member of his family to ever attend college. He attended Idaho State University on a full scholarship for boxing. At the end of his sophomore year Idaho State dropped their boxing program and he enlisted in the U.S. Army. He did 2 tours to Korea and attained the rank of staff sergeant. During his second tour he was selected for the Army Boxing team where he finished his enlistment. He then attended Eastern Washington State University where he was also a member of the boxing team and finished his bachelors degree in Education. Upon graduating his first position as a teacher was on Vashon Island (in the Puget Sound). He taught math, science, PE and was the high school baseball coach and assistant basketball coach. During his second year teaching while traveling as a passenger in a car to the school Christmas party the car was struck by a train and he was pronounced dead on arrival to the hospital. An orderly noticed that he was still moving and he was then taken for surgery. He had broken his right arm in so many places that they wanted to amputate but he convinced them that he would prefer to die with his arm in tact. He also broke his pelvis and two vertebra in his lumbar spine. The doctors prognosis was that if he survived that he would never walk again. 6 weeks later he asked the doctors when he could leave and they said when you can walk on your own and go to the bathroom, which he proceeded to do. At that time he discussed with his brother what he had experienced in the time that he was declared dead and his brother told him never to discuss it with anyone else or they would have him committed. Years later he shared with me that he remembered hovering above his body and hearing the doctors discuss how grave his situation was and that he was unlikely to survive. Then he was in another place with a bunch of others like himself and they were waiting for a gate or curtain to open and they would go through it. He tried to describe this location in several ways but said it was very difficult to describe but that it was a very peaceful place and all of his questions were answered. Then he was approached by someone in charge and they said it wasn't his time yet and that he had 3 things that he must do before it would be his time. Suddenly he was back in his body and could once again feel the pain of his injuries and he heard the orderly exclaim, "something is moving in there."After his accident he lived with various family members for the next few years while he was trying to rehab from his injuries and to make sense of what he was told to do. He deciphered the instructions he received, "to help those who can't help themselves." and decided to dedicate his life to helping people with mental and physical disabilities. In that era the vast majority of people with physical or mental disabilities were institutionalized, so he took a job as an orderly in an institution. His first assignment was to floor with children that were diagnosed with mental retardation or autism and his primary responsibility was to clean up after them in the bathroom. He said these children would urinate and defecate everywhere except in the toilets. After several weeks of just cleaning up after these children he decided that he was going to try to get them to use the bathroom properly and he started working with the child that he said made the worst mess of them all. He noticed that this child had an affinity for M&Ms during snack time and decided to use the M&Ms as a reward for the child if he would use the toilet properly. Within a week he helped this child begin to use the toilet properly and then began teaching the other children. Within a month he had helped almost all of the children in his hall to begin using the toilet properly by initially using the M&Ms and then using positive reinforcement, shaking their hand publicly and announcing so that the other children could hear his praise. His boss took notice of his efforts in training these "untrainable" children and fired him, exclaiming that if these children are trainable then there is no reason for them to be institutionalized. Getting fired from this position threw fuel on his fire to help these children and was the motivation for him to go back to school and get a masters degree in special education. It was in the wake of having been fired that he met his soon to be wife. In July 1965 he married Charlene Holly Sprester in Seaside, CA. Shortly after their marriage Charlene "Chon" realized that she was pregnant and wanted to move home to Smethport, PA where their first daughter, Kelley Sue was born on April 14, 1966. Shortly thereafter his brother helped to find him a teaching position in Tacoma, WA and they drove from Pennsylvania to the state of Washington across the Canadian Rockies with a 5 month old baby. After arriving to Washington Chon realized that she was expecting their second baby, Helen Marie who was born on June 22, 1967. Once again home sickness would bring them back to Pennsylvania. Realizing Chon's attraction to the area he applied to the University of Buffalo where he completed his Masters in Special Education. While completing his Masters they lived in Little Valley, NY - just an hour from Spethport, PA. Near the end of the first year of his Masters program Chon was pregnant again with their third child and first son, Patrick Neil, who was born in Salamanca, NY on January 20, 1969. After completing his Masters Degree he was accepted in the Doctoral program at the University of Cincinnati where he completed all of his classroom hours but his dissertation was not accepted because there was no published research available for conditioning/training children with disabilities in the way he described. He then transferred to Wright State University as a Professor promised to publish his findings if he would design and supervise the studies. He spent 3 years designing and running studies at the Celina Branch Campus under the supervision of this professor but when the studies were submitted for publication they were denied and therefore his dissertation was still in limbo. However, it was at this time that he worked with a group of professors to draft a new law call public law 94-142 that was used to solidify the field of special education across the US. This new law would guaranteed a free appropriate public education to each child with a disability. It also made those with intimate knowledge of how to implement the law a hot commodity as every state in the country wanted to get in compliance with the law so that they could receive the federal funding. Chon announced that they were expecting their 4th child and their second son was born in Celina, OH on April 10, 1974. With a Masters Degree + 60hrs and his dissertation under review he accepted his first job in Pierre, SD working in coordination with the ARC, the South Dakota State Board of Education and the Sioux Nation Council on Education. In less than 6 months he helped all 3 organizations to gain compliance and receive federal funding under PL 94-142. He was asked to present the results of his work to the state congress and received a 10 minute standing ovation. The Chief of the Sioux Nation then bestowed upon him the title of Honorary Chief of the Sioux Nation. He was given the full Sioux Indian Chief dress and even smoked a piece pipe with the Chief. He realized that he work was benefitting a lot of people but that there was still a significant population that were institutionalized and decided to turn his efforts toward a solution for this group. He returned to Celina, Ohio and discussed his plans with the Attorney that helped draft PL 94-142. The new plan was to create a halfway program. They worked together to spearhead a program called the Ottawa Valley Center, in Lima, OH in which they converted an old TB hospital into a halfway home and training center for the mentally and physically handicapped that had previously been institutionalized. It was a smashing success and became the model for programs that were starting across the country. They relocated to Lima, OH to supervise this pilot program. Unfortunately, his focus and attention to this new venture left his personal life out of balance which resulted in separation and divorce in 1976. He decided to shift his focus to being a family man as he was given full custody of all 4 children. He took a position as the Assistant Director of Special Education in Muscatine, IA and lived in a small town called Wilton, IA. HIs goal was to help the school district to gain compliance with PL 94-142 which he did in 9 months. The following year he was offered a position as Director of the River Valley Center in Rock Valley, IA again to gain compliance with PL 94-142. While in this position his Dissertation was finally accepted and he received his Ph.D. He was then offered the Director of Special Ed for Natrona County school district in the Casper, WY to establish compliance and restore federal funding, which he completed in less than 2 years. He then took a position at the state home for boys in Casper as the Director for 3 yrs. In the spring of 1985 they relocated to Rock Springs, WY where he was the Director of Special Ed on a 1yr contract to gain compliance. He then took a 1 yr contract with the Navajo nation in New Mexico to create an appropriate education for Navajo students. He then relocated to Rockton, IL for 3yrs as the Director of Special Ed. At this point he decided it was time to start working toward retirement and in an effort to repurchase his retirement in Ohio he took the position as the Special Ed teacher at Tri-County North High School where he would teach and coach for the next 18 yrs. He applied the same principles of teaching through positive reinforcement and rewards with his students at TCN. He was truly adored by the majority of his students. He finally retire at the age of 75. He was an avid weight lifter and runner even into his retirement years, which he attributed as the reason he looked decades younger than his actual age. He was a scholar, a teacher, a father, a friend and devout Christian. His commitment to help those who could not help themselves was evident throughout his life.
May He Rest in Peace
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