Gordon Koppert said he came down the chute at the right time. After World War Two, he went to work for the General Electric Company in Louisville, Kentucky, and rose in its ranks to a gainful line of employment.
Gordon became my art student when I taught at Middletown’s Crosby Middle School’s Tuesday evening sessions under the Jefferson County Adult and Continuing Class Program.
As he was newlywed and did not want to leave his bride home alone in the evening, he needed to move to a daytime class so he joined me at Immanuel United Church of Christ on Taylorsville Road under the Highlands Community Ministries Program headed by Stan Esterle.
Gordon brought Connie Lewis to join our group. They had been friends since Gordon and her husband, Dick, worked together at General Electric.
In time we would move to the Bardstown Road First Presbyterian Church basement art class where Gordon sat at the head table next to Connie.
Stanley Huston, the inventor of the microwave, joined us in that basement. Stanley was employed by Tube Turns when he worked on that project. He told us about taking his “oven” to the Company’s booth at The Kentucky State Fair one summer. He amazed the folks by melting ham right off the bone in a very short period of time. The invention was sold to Amana and the rest is history. Unfortunately, Stanley was never given credit for the invention that changed the cooking practices in households and the preparation habits of millions who ate breakfasts, lunches, and dinners in a very convenient manner.
Stanley taught cane weaving for old chairs. He gave me a start of a willow twig which I planted in the backyard of the Pink House. The original willow came from Hungary and he used its branches to help his students restore many cane-bottom chairs.
Stanley told us he was going to drive to Florida. Concerned because Stanley was getting up in years, Gordon asked him how was he going to manage that drive.
Stanley replied, “I’m just going to put it in cruise control.”
Gordon’s “invention: did not fare so well. After he painted a garden canvas with beautiful flowers to enter into the Woman’s Club of Louisville’s annual competition, he decided to give it an extra touch which he felt would impress that year’s judges. He painted a bumble bee, cut it out, and attached it to a magnet. By placing a magnet on the back of the canvas, one could move the bee from flower to flower on the front.
The entire class thought it was a very clever idea. It took Gordon several weeks to recover from not winning a prize for his gardening efforts.