Family Values Ii - the Legacy Continues

By Tim Werkley

Timothy Charles Werkley was born in 1943, raised by a loving, caring family. He was the first in his family to attend college and subsequently graduate school.
He started his own business which spawned a second one. After transitioning the business to his son, he began a 15-year teaching career at a local university retiring in 2021.
Hopefully this work inspires other entrepreneurs to pass along their life lessons on to future generations.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Sep 28, 2022
• ISBN: 9781669848066

Book preview

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FAMILY

VALUES II -

THE LEGACY CONTINUES

TIM WERKLEY

Copyright © 2022 by Tim Werkley.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 09/27/2022

Xlibris

844-714-8691

www.Xlibris.com

847026

CONTENTS

Prologue

The Early Years

Family Matters

College And Beyond

Marriage And A Career Begins

Life Changing Events

Business Is Never Static!

Life Changes Again

Of Health, Religion And Friendship

Teaching Is Not That Easy

Family Highs And Lows

On The Business Front

So, Where Do I Go From Here?

Its Not Over Until Its Over

Acknowledgments

Prologue

As I look back on my life, I am truly blessed to have lived a full, healthy and mostly stress-free existence. I was born of two caring, loving parents who raised me and helped instill in me Family Values, thus the title of this work.

In 2012 my dad, then in his early 90’s and I discussed his life and decided to have him put together some notes in long hand which could be complied into a book. I agreed to edit it and if we thought it worthy to publish the work primarily for family consumption.

While it took him nearly a year to write, I edited and found a publisher. We did so and in February 2013 we hosted a family book signing event for our entire family. Every member of our small family was given a copy personally autographed with an inspirational message. His book was titled Family Values so my work while not a direct follow up however the theme is basically the same. Hopefully, its message brings some measure of interest as I think it important that we all need to take an introspective look at our life and the legacy we leave to future generations.

Timothy C. Werkley

September, 2022

The Early Years

Where does one start on memorializing the events that shaped a life. I began this venture in my home in Port St Lucie, Florida, a city just west of Hutchinson Island in early spring of 2022. I looked back on a life that has been devoid of any major catastrophizes and filled with stories of family and business triumphs and missteps.

My Name is Timothy Charles Werkley, and I was born on January 25, 1943, in Paterson, NJ.

My parents Charles J. Werkley and Janet Werkley (nee Lauder) were married on February 14, 1942, thus while not a Honeymoon creation I was a bit of a surprise. At the time my dad was employed by Curtis Wright, a defense contractor so he had not yet been drafted into WWII. However, the draft finally caught up with him and rather than go into the Army he enlisted in the Navy leaving my mother alone to raise me. My mother was a tough, resilient soul who took a part time job and had friends and extended family provide daycare.

While I have few memories of anything that transpired during the early days, one story of interest as told by my dad shows their love as a couple and of me. My dad was an electrician aboard the ship Coos Bay which was rammed at night by another ship near Japan during the beginning of the occupation after their surrender in 1945. His ship was towed back to Compton, California and because it was scheduled to be there for several months my mom and I were to meet him there. Apparently between the money she was able to save plus my dad’s father being a railroad employee we were able to afford the long journey. Interestingly, I really didn’t know my dad as he left when I was just over a year old, and I was now three so as he disembarked from the ship, I literally ran over to the first sailor I saw who happened to be black thus frightening him as well as my parents.

The only other memory of my early years happened after the birth of my sister Joan on October 30, 1948. As my parents brought her home, I locked the front door of our home and refused to allow them to enter so I guess I didn’t take well to having a sibling. Happily, Joan and I have had a loving relationship for many years, so I guess the rough start was just my insecurity.

Growing up in those times was relatively carefree. We lived in Prospect Park, N.J., a suburb of Paterson. I attended the Prospect Park elementary school. The community was heavily Dutch with restrictions on any work being done on Sunday. My dad received a summons for doing repairs on our home something he never did again.

We were renting on the second floor of a two-family home with my cousins, the Carola family living downstairs. Eventually my parents purchased the home and we continued to live there for several more years. The home