I had a couple of posts ready for uploading this morning when I found out the Administrator of our Policy and Planning Division (which our office comes under) passed away of leukemia yesterday.
I worked closely with Larry Coldiron during this past legislative session on the Judicial Salary Commission and got to know him pretty well.
Larry was the kind of Administrator who trusted the people who worked under him. He would hand assignments to me and would let me do them the way I felt was best. That's not to say he wouldn't check on how things were going or always have a back-up plan ready to go, but in the end, when reviewing what you had done, he would very rarely make changes to your recommendations because he felt you were now the expert on the subject and knew best what to recommend.
Larry was a retired officer from, I believe, the Air Force. He never discussed his military service but I believe it shaped who he became. Organization, a clear chain of command, and responsibility for your actions were the watch words of his life. Conversely, he would give credit to those under him before allowing anyone to give him any praise for the good work of his division.
Larry was also a Christian. When I went to visit him in the hospital during his first bout with leukemia he had a Bible by his side and a framed picture of the Lord on the counter of his room. But what was most important, he had the love of Christ in his heart.
Larry had been fighting his cancer for several years. At first, it appeared the treatments had worked but the disease came back stronger than the first time. Larry fought as hard as he could but in the end, he didn't make it.
A better, braver person person you could not find. He will be missed. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends.
Farewell, good friend.
