By Dr. J.D. Rottweiler
A little water and pruning generally lead to a lot of color in the Douglas Campus rose garden. Blooms of pink, coral, yellow, lavender and red have already appeared. With some TLC and protection from hungry critters, the flowers should be ready for the college’s biggest show of the year – commencement.
Donated in 1967 by Dr. Charles F. Roberts, a local eye doctor, the rose garden came along in the same era that Dr. Mark von Destinon — then about 10 years old — was balancing himself on the concrete forms for the new Student Union. Von Destinon, whose father was an administrator in the late 1960s and early 1970s, is, perhaps, the only employee who literally grew up at the college. A former administrator and retired faculty member, he will be honored with colleague Chuck Perry as faculty emeritus at this year’s graduation.
It’s fitting that von Destinon will be honored in a year that graduation is held at the Douglas Campus, since that’s where he spent his formative years and the early part of his career. Mark served as registrar from 1980 to 1984. He left to pursue master’s and doctoral degrees in higher education student services, with an emphasis on counseling and guidance, in 1985. In 1992, he returned to Cochise as dean of Student Services on the Sierra Vista Campus, and in 1999, he became a full-time instructor of psychology and sociology. He continues to teach online, and to help connect alumni to the college, even in retirement.
What those various job titles leave out is Mark’s ongoing commitment to student success, his service as a Rodeo Club advisor and Apache Booster Club member, his assistance in creating and fundraising for numerous scholarship funds, his support and encouragement of the employees around him, and what his faculty emeritus nomination letter describes as a vibrant, engaging, helpful, humorous, accepting and affecting personality and teaching style.
Perry, of Bisbee, joined the college in the mid-1980s and is largely recognized for his diligence in consistently enforcing Federal Aviation Administration training standards and regulations leading to the Aviation Department’s outstanding safety record. As chief flight instructor, Chuck was responsible to the FAA for the results of periodic inspections, with the college continuously meeting or exceeding safety and management standards.
In 1997, Chuck became an FAA designated pilot examiner, acting as a final “quality control inspector” ensuring that applicants for a pilot certificate or rating met FAA performance standards. He often kept late hours to accommodate last-minute flight test requests. Prior to retiring, Perry also served on and led the college Senate, helped develop and review policies and procedures related to personnel issues as co-chair of the Employee Relations Committee, and assisted on the last Presidential Search Committee.
Just like roses that impress us with fresh blooms each spring, honoring faculty emeritus nominees with an audience of their colleagues is a perennial feel-good opportunity that is second only to celebrating student success. We are genuinely happy that these deserving individuals left their mark on thousands of students through their work at Cochise College.
J.D. Rottweiler is president of Cochise College. Contact him at jdr@cochise.edu.