Cordell Koland

Cordell was a gentle, insightful, and caring man.

Cord's father was a great admirer of Cordell Hull, Franklin Roosevelt's 11 year Secretary of State who wrote the United Nations charter and received the Nobel Prize for his efforts with the U.N., and so he named Cord after him. Cord would joke and roll his eyes about how his dad had tried to influence his life through his name.

Although Cord never attempted such a lofty career path he was a tireless donor of his time and money to idealistic and community causes not just on the Coastside but in San Jose prior to moving here - fighting, all the while, the illness that finally took him. To say that Cord will be missed is to say too little.

Mike

I didn't know him anywhere near as well as many others here, but from my relatively few interactions with Cordell I have to say he was a really great guy, and this is sad news. (I wasn't close enough to know that he had health problems.)

I knew Cordell longer than any other friend I had in California. He was singularly creative, positive and self-effacing. Some of my best work came about through brainstorming sessions with him.

And through it all, he was honest with me. He'd tell me what I needed to hear when I didn't want to hear it, and he'd do it in a way that only made our friendship stronger.