Harmon Cogert’s Passing

-------- Forwarded Message --------
Subject: Re: Harmon Cogert
Date: Sat, 12 Jan 2019 17:56:59 -0800
From: Rene <renegrodriguez@gmail.com>
To:Barbara Cogert <bcogert45@gmail.com>

Dear Barbara,

Please accept my condolences on the passing of your husband Harmon. I will be most happy to share this information with college district retirees by placing it on the VCCCDRA Retirees’ Association website (vcccdra.org). It is very nice to know of your association with the Ventura College Nursing Program and to know of the outstanding work that the Ventura College trained nurses provided your husband, and congratulations on your achievements as an employee of the district.

Rene G. Rodriguez

 

On 1/12/2019 1:58 PM, Barbara Cogert wrote:

I mention the passing of my husband, Harmon Cogert on December 11, 2018 because my family and I have established a Nursing Scholarship with the VC Foundation in his memory. He was fortunate to have received the finest care from RN’s; former grads and current students of the Ventura College Nursing program where I worked as an Administrative Assistant for 15 years. As a former Classified Senate President and the first VCCCD employee to receive the Board of Governors/Chancellor’s Office Classified Employee of the Year in 2011, Harmon supported me in all my endeavors to serve Ventura College and it’s students.

Thank you.

 

On Sun, Dec 23, 2018 at 9:31 AM Rene <renegrodriguez@gmail.com> wrote:

Barbara,

I’m so sorry to learn of the passing of your husband Harmon. Would it be all right if I passed this on to VCCCD retirees? If you have an obituary or information you would like me to share on our website (vcccdra.org), please send me the information. Could you also say something about yourself and your association with the college district. Thank you.

Rene

 

On 12/22/2018 5:50 PM, Barbara Cogert wrote:

My husband (Harmon Cogert) passed away on December 11 after a long battle with COPD and other lung issues.   Not the greatest time of the year to be in mourning.

 

Tom Emma’s Passing

Tom Emma’s Obituary:  https://www.kauaimemorialgardens.com/notices/Thomas-Emma

——– Forwarded Message ——–
Subject: Tom Emma – Passed Away
Date: Tue, 19 Feb 2019 18:08:39 +0000
From: Katy Lyon <klyon@vcccd.edu>
To: Rene <renegrodriguez@gmail.com>, freevcnet@aol.com <freevcnet@aol.com>, hculotta@outlook.com <hculotta@outlook.com>

Good Morning~

I’m sorry to report that I’ve received word from Tom’s daughter that he passed away in 2017. Please remove him from your membership list.

I remember taking a class from him at VC. He will be missed.

Thanks,
Katy

Katy Lyon
Benefits Analyst
Ventura County Community College District
761 East Daily Drive, Suite 200
Camarillo, CA 93010
(805) 652-5535 phone
(805) 652-7705 fax
klyon@vcccd.edu

Use It or Lose It!

How often do we hear this now trite expression, but yet so true in so many situations. More recently, in reading the AARP Bulletin (Feb. 2019), the table of contents featured, “People with untreated hearing loss have a 52% greater risk of dementia,” and an article on p. 4 followed.

Without reading the article (yet), the prognosis makes sense in this regard. If a person cannot hear the gist of what is going on in a conversation, how can they participate? How can they make use of their brain to process and assess what is being discussed if they are not following the conversation? Moreover, if they are not following the conversation, their brain is just sitting there idle, unused, and unchallenged.

The “use it or lose it” bromide is normally applied to physical activity, but just as physical exercise is important to keep your body functioning properly, mental activity is just as important to keep your mind functioning properly.

In a separate article, I’d like to share my personal experience in how I treated hearing loss, but here I want to focus on encouraging retirees to keep making use of their mental faculties.

All VCCCDRA retirees have an opportunity to play a leadership role (elections coming up in March) and/or to participate in any of its various committees, or communications vehicles such as the newsletter, the website and this blog.

I retired in 2004 (difficult to believe it’s been that long), joined the VCCCDRA in 2005, and in 2006 got a call encouraging me to become more active. I’ve been on the Executive Board since then and have participated in every committee except for a more recently established one. I decided we needed a website so I created one in 2006, and much later this blog, which I consider to be in its infancy. I’m also thinking of creating a listserv for retirees but that’s another story.

Because of my activity with the VCCCD Retirees’ Association, I credit it with helping me keep mentally fit. I noticed early on that words weren’t as readily available to me, but as time went by this diminished. My memory improved as well as my ability to express a thought. So I decided to become as involved as possible, not only with the VCCCDRA but with other organizations. There are all kinds of opportunities to make use of your faculties and to share your knowledge and experience.

Next week I start reading applications for scholarships through the scholarship committee of the Ventura College Foundation. This will be my third year of participating. THIS KIND OF ACTIVITY IS OPEN TO ALL RETIREES. GET INVOLVED! IT’S GOOD FOR YOU, AND IT’S GOOD FOR THE COMMUNITY!

If I felt that teaching at a community college was the best job in the world, I now feel that working in a community college setting is the best environment to work in because of all the great people involved, each with their own stories to tell.

Rene G. Rodriguez

REMINDER: This “blog” belongs to the retirees of the Ventura County Community College District Retirees’ Association. What better place to exercise your noggin than to share your thoughts on whatever topic is pressing on you.

Thank You, Don Medley!

From The Monitor, Fall 2018, Page 2

BY GARY JOHNSON

How do you say “thank you” when thank you is not enough? Don Medley founded the VCCCD Retirees Association in 1994 to facilitate an opportunity for community college district retirees to get together socially at least once a year.

His periodic organization and publication of the yellow-covered Membership Roster has made it possible for retirees to maintain contact with one another as well as to be contacted.

Since then, Don’s service has included singlehandedly maintaining and updating a log of names, addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses for nearly 1,050 members, including those who are now deceased. His service has also included keeping track of dues and payments, chairing the Membership Committee, and mailing the quarterly newsletter, The Monitor.

For most retirees, Don is rightfully the face of the Association, the first go-to person for questions, answers, and information. Many of us have come and gone in leadership roles within the Association, but Don has been the indispensable mainstay person –the glue that has kept us together!

Without Don’s foundational and continuing effort, there would have been no organized response to the District’s challenge to retiree health care coverage in 2005; no ongoing opportunity for retirees to have a voice in District decisions that may affect them; no vehicle for retirees to draw on their District history and experience to con-tinue to serve the District as valuable resources. We are not alone as fortunate recipients of Don’s tremendous generosity of spirit, wisdom, care, guidance, irrepressible energy, and organizational expertise.

Throughout his career as an instructor at Moorpark College and as chair of the Information Systems Department at California Polytechnic University, Pomona, Don supplied his leadership skills to the Data Processing Management Association, where he established several new chapters.

Since retiring as the District’s associate vice chancellor of in-formation systems and research, Don has served the Camarillo Kiwanis Club as president and lieutenant governor, championing many local community projects, including a handicap-accessible playground at Community Center Park. He served regionally as secretary and key fundraiser, always supporting the annual Kiwanis Rose Parade float.

In March 2016 Don and nine others were honored at the Top 10 Community Awards banquet, where Don was given the prestigious Volunteer of the Year Award by the Camarillo Chamber of Commerce.

Underlying Don’s great civic-mindedness is a profoundly religious faith and the loving heart of a great family man. Don is a deacon and longtime member of the First Baptist Church of Camarillo.

Obviously, the world needs and does not have enough Don Medleys, and that certainly extends to Don’s wife Louise who, after nearly 62 years of marriage, is always engaged as a partner with him and, like him, contributes more than her share.

Don and Louise are blessed with three wonderful adult children –Brian, Sherrie, and Tony –as well as two granddaughters, and one grandson who is deceased.

Due to significant health issues, Don has asked to be relieved of his membership management responsibilities. With considerable gratitude to Don, we thank Joy Kobayashi for volunteering to take on the vital role he has played on behalf of the Association.

THANK YOU, Don Medley (and you too, Louise!) for a lifetime of service to all of us.

(Editors note: Don Medley passed away late Sunday evening, August 26, 2018. His memorial service will take place on Saturday, September 15, 2018, at the First Baptist Church of Camarillo. Please see the Membership Report for details.)

MEDICARE PRESENTATIONS now available online!

On Nov. 16, 2017 the District Office sponsored presentations on Medicare by Anthem and Kaiser representatives at the Performing Arts Center at Oxnard College.  They included basics on what Medicare covers, how to enroll in Medicare, Medicare premium costs, and how Medicare coordinates with Anthem Blue Cross or Kaiser, depending on which coverage you have.  The District Office Presentation  2017_retiree_benefits_powerpoint explains the coverage that each retiree has depending on their hire and retirement date.  The main presentations regarding Medicare are covered in the Kaiser Medicare Presentation kaiser_medicare_101 and the Anthem Medicare Presentation anthem_medicare_coordination_presentation.

Be sure to read the “Welcome” post in this blog to get a primer on how Medicare may be of value to you as a retiree.

LIFELONG LEARNING at Cal State University, Channel Islands (CSUCI)

For retirees looking to stay active and keep that old grey matter humming, CSU Channel Islands, situated about 5 miles south of the 101 Freeway on Lewis Road in Camarillo, is beginning its Spring lifelong learning courses on January 22, 2018.

Persons interested in TAKING A COURSE can peruse the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) website and view all the activities available to participants by clicking on this link  https://ext.csuci.edu/programs/osher-lifelong-learning-institute/index.htm.

Here is a quick glance of their upcoming Spring session couses spring-1-2018-schedule-matrix.  Be sure to download their catalog to get a complete description of each course by clicking here olli-spring-1-2018-catalog.

ALSO PLEASE NOTE that any retiree interested in TEACHING A COURSE through OLLI can propose a  course for consideration.  Click here   https://ext.csuci.edu/programs/osher-lifelong-learning-institute/teaching-olli.htm for more details.

 

Don’t Miss the District Sponsored Medicare Seminar on Thursday, Nov. 16, 2017

All retirees and their spouses need to seriously consider attending the MEDICARE SEMINAR at Oxnard College that is being sponsored by the Ventura County Community College District.

The MEDICARE SEMINAR will take place in the Oxnard College Performing Arts Center from 4:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. at 4000 So. Rose Ave., Oxnard, CA.

The “Welcome to the VCCCD Retirees’ Association Blog” post explains the importance of a seminar like this one is to retirees and spouses of all tiers.  Click on Ventura CCD Medicare Seminar 2017 Flyer for more information.  See you THURSDAY at Oxnard College!

Two New Medicare Seminars in July 2017

Jacqueline Ramirez of Anthem/Blue Cross will be conducting two seminars in July,

  • one in Thousand Oaks on July 10,
  • and one in Simi Valley on July 27.
  • Information will also be provided on the popular SilverSneakers.
  • For information on how to reserve a seat for one of these seminars, click on this link July_Events_ABCs Event 1PG 2017 CA

For more information on the seminars, particularly for future retirees, click on this link Age-In Still Working Call Me 1PG 2017 CA

I attended one of Jacqueline’s seminars on April 26, 2017 after learning about it at a Benefits Committee meeting chaired by Gary Johnson.  For my report on this seminar click on this link “Medicare Anyone?” which will take you to the web page What’s New of the retirees’ vcccdra.org website.  You’ll have to scroll down to find the article.

Be sure to read the “Welcome…” article in this blog which discusses who among retirees should consider enrolling in Medicare.

I know others have attended a similar seminar conducted by Jacqueline, and if you have any comments that you wish to share about attending one of these seminars you can send them to me for inclusion in this blog, or simply fill out a comment below.

Rene G. Rodriguez