Frank Whitworth was from another era.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He kept detailed financial data on huge green sheets in bound ledgers that went back to the 1950s. He wore a white shirt, blue suit and tie, and polished leather shoes you could see your reflection in. He carried a beat-up leather briefcase that held his lunch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He was a classy gentleman who we all loved and respected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Eileen Vogler was a classic, too. She got her hair done at the beauty parlor on Saturday mornings. Her nails, clothing, and coordinated accessories were always perfect. She had a saying for everything, each one eliciting a chuckle. “I’d feel for you, but I can hardly reach you” was her response to anyone with a small complaint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Frank and Eileen were from the early days of the J. Paul Getty Trust, when “Mr. Getty” was directing activities from his estate in England. They were the trusted guardians of investment accounting and cash management and had played those roles longer than anyone could remember.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I learned so much from both of them, but not what you might expect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Frank taught me more about meticulous record keeping and the pursuit of balanced ledgers than anything I had learned in my accounting classes. He was fastidious in his work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He was a true gentleman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He never said a bad word about anyone and was quick to find a positive quality in the people he worked with. He knew everyone’s name and greeted each person warmly as he walked through the office to his desk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Frank noticed things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of our coworkers never brought lunch. Her mornings were hectic getting her kids out the door, and she didn’t want to spend her hard-earned wages at the expensive cafe in our building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Frank asked his wife to pack an extra sandwich and some fruit. Each morning, he quietly and anonymously placed them on her desk before she arrived.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
No fanfare. No recognition sought. Just kindness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Frank worked hard, too. He was always prompt to arrive and left at the same time each day. His time at home with his wife was precious to him and he was eager to get home to her every day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They had been together for more than 50 years. He quipped that his bride would have dinner ready and Jeopardy wouldn’t wait.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lorem Ipsum has been the industry’s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Eileen shared a different set of lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She was especially mindful of waste. One evening, I came across her removing paperclips from piles of paper in the “To Be Shredded” box and returning them to the paperclip containers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before I could say anything, she explained that “Mr. Getty” didn’t like waste, so she had become accustomed to being mindful of throwing useful things away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She told us stories of the early Getty Museum days, when it occupied a few rooms in the back of the Getty Villa in Malibu and was more of a tax write-off for J. Paul Getty’s art and furniture collecting hobby. There was even a small zoo!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She told us about taking the Red Car to work in Los Angeles and how convenient life in the city was without a car. Those days were long gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She was a bustler. Always bustling around the office, putting things in their place, keeping order, ensuring our coffee pot was full and fresh, and the copy machine stocked with paper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She cared about tidiness and inspired it in all of us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As computers became increasingly essential to our roles, we watched Eileen dig in and learn the systems. She was over 70, and her newfound skills delighted her. She pulled me over to her desk to show me a new report she had written or an inquiry she had discovered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She wasn’t afraid of advancing technology. She grabbed on to it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As I closed my chapter at The J. Paul Getty Trust to follow my love of software and join PeopleSoft, I reflected on all the lessons I had learned from these seasoned coworkers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From Frank:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From Eileen:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I valued every lesson these humble, caring people shared. I didn’t realize at the time just how much they would shape the professional and person I became.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Frank passed away several years into my Getty career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One day, he didn’t show up for work, so we called his home. His wife told us that he went to bed the night before and never woke up. He passed away right where he wanted to be, by her side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She shared that he was worried about an out-of-balance account when he came home the evening before and was eager to return to work to figure it out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He loved numbers. He loved his family. And he made all of us feel his warmth every day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As he walked out the door each night, he gave us a wave and his signature farewell:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Goodnight, all you good people. See you tomorrow.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The final lesson from Frank?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Always cherish what can come tomorrow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was heading into a world of software and technology, but the most important lessons I carried forward had nothing to do with technology.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Frank Whitworth was from another era. He kept detailed financial data on huge green sheets in bound ledgers that went back to the 1950s. He wore a white shirt, blue suit and tie, and polished leather shoes you could see your reflection in. He carried a beat-up leather briefcase that held his lunch. He was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-86","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/betteryoucoaching.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/betteryoucoaching.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/betteryoucoaching.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/betteryoucoaching.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/betteryoucoaching.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/betteryoucoaching.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":88,"href":"https:\/\/betteryoucoaching.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86\/revisions\/88"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/betteryoucoaching.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/betteryoucoaching.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/betteryoucoaching.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}