Pictured above from the left are Bob Latimer and his sailing buddies Lennox McLendon, Kay Kemper, and Bill Moore.
In 1972, my first husband and I moved to Norfolk. He had been hired by the City to become Assistant Director of Public Utilities. We had lived in Germany on a U.S. Army base for three years prior to our move, and during that time, I had worked part-time teaching Algebra and English to GIs in a GED prep program. Our son was two years old, when we came to Norfolk, and I settled in to being full-time wife and mother, but six months later, I decided to apply for a part-time job in Adult Education and was hired as a Counselor in a Model Cities Program for adults who were trying to get their GED. (What are those chances...). The program was supposed to end in six months but lasted another year. It was quite an experience since I had no real "credentials" for the job, but apparently, my boss, Bob Latimer (AKA "Captain") thought I could handle it - which gave me the confidence I needed to do so and in the process, changed my life.
After the Model Cities program ended, Bob hired me to be an "Adult Education Specialist," which meant a number of things:
1) My job was to promote all the typical adult education night courses like typing and bookkeeping, but Bob encouraged me to come up with courses that were new, different, and brought attention to the whole array of offerings. Bob never said "no" to any one of my "wacky" ideas, including "Gourmet Dining Out" which included wonderful dinners at the newly open OMNI and the Golden Triangle with tours of the kitchens. And when I made a mistake (like writing about watching the sunset in East Ocean View) or anyone did for that matter, he never had a cross word or a raised voice because he knew it wasn't intentional and wouldn't happen again. He had such a wonderful perspective on everything.
2) We mostly worked at night which provided frequent opportunities for great conversations about his daughter Tammy and life in general as we traveled from program to program. When my husband and I divorced, he worked out a deal with our Department head so I could leave a little early each day to pick up my son. Unheard of at the time for sure but typical Bob to do what he could to help anyone. I learned so much from him and am still trying to follow his example. Our work schedule also allowed several of us to join Bob on his sailboat, including his adult education supervisor friends from Richmond. Many an afternoon we sailed the Chesapeake Bay, laughed, and formed strong bonds of friendship. As a result, I had the opportunity to learn to write grants and was successful in obtaining a $1 million federal grant for Norfolk Pubic School to assist Vietnamese refugees in getting settled in the US. Sadly, that grant resulted in my leaving Adult Education and doing more grant writing and public information for Norfolk Public Schools, but it definitely didn't end our friendship or his encouragement and advice whenever an opportunity presented itself.
He encouraged me to accept the offer from Norfolk Superintendent Al Ayars to go to Richmond with George Raiss and represent Norfolk Public Schools, an opportunity which began my career. And he was delighted when Old Dominion, his beloved alma mater, recruited me to become its Director of Governmental Relations in 1983.
Later on, he introduced me to Rotary and recruited me for membership in the Norfolk Rotary Club. Although I'm not sure I fully understood the depth and breath of Rotary International then, I knew I wanted to be a member of any club to which Bob Latimer was so committed. It was definitely one of the best decisions I ever made.
Full of Integrity. Committed to his family and friends. Kind to everyone. Mentor to many. Survivor of so much. Father, uncle, and lover of hot dogs. And role model for how to live a full life in retirement.
My life would not have been the same without Captain. He believed in me and saw things I didn’t. He was the brother I never had and one of the best people I ever knew. I owe him so much and will be forever grateful for the gift of his friendship.
"O Captain! My Captain! Our fearful trip is done,
The ship has weather'd every rack,
The prize we sought is won... (Walt Whitman)
Rest in peace, dear "brother."