Don Herche 1954-2008

This past Monday, Don Herche passed away. Don was the owner of Public Opinion Research and my boss for 10 years. Don was the uncle of a good high school friend, Eric Crews, and it was through Eric that I first met Don and eventually came to work for him.

I know that I learned a lot from Don. Yes, I learned specific things about survey research or computer programming, but also much bigger lessons. I recently realized that it was because of Don that I learned how to teach myself how to learn new software. It was also because of Don that I learned how to work independently and how to solve problems on my own. These weren't easy lessons to learn and I know that, at the time, I was not happy in the situations where I needed to learn them to succeed. But, they have definitely paid off over time.

Don was a unique person. This was very much evident at the memorial service in his honor that we attended today. He affected many people in his life, all for the best.

I didn't have any contact with Don after I left POR. I regret that I didn't contact him occasionally and catch up. I had finally gotten to the point where I recognized that I should contact him, when I learned that he had been stricken with cancer again and was dying.

So, Don, I didn't get a chance to tell you this in person, but, thanks. I learned a lot from you. I have a lot of good memories from my days as your employee and I know now that not many people would say that about their former boss. I realized that all those times that were so frustrating to me were usually because I needed to learn something new or learn how to get along with someone who had a different way of doing things than I did.