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Near-death experience changed the life of father of four

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By Sandra Baer, Contributing Writer Updated 4:10 PM Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Vernon Mangold Jr., 52, of Washington Twp., is a man who has faced a life-threatening medical emergency and lived to talk about it. The married father of four suffered a hemorrhagic stroke in 2007 that left him hospitalized and re-evaluating what was important in his life.

“We calibrate our priorities,” said Mangold, who grew up in Dayton and moved to Kettering in the fourth grade with his physicist father, Vernon Sr., and mother, Henrietta. “I’ve already had an end-of-life experience with the white light and everything, and I’ve come to realize that friends, family and the impact you make on other people’s lives are what matters.”

Mangold graduated from Carroll High School in 1974. A member of the wrestling and football teams and the student body president during his senior year, he studied mechanical engineering for about three years at the University of Dayton.

“I’ve been fascinated by robots since the age of 16,” said Mangold, who made a run for Kettering City Council in 1974 as an Independent candidate at the age of 17. “I worked as a tool-and-die apprentice while I was in high school.”

Mangold, who also worked second and third shift during his last year in high school at NCR in the computer operations department, decided to leave college early to work as an applications engineer for Unimation Incorporated, a robotic’s company in Danbury, Conn. In 1979, he moved to the sales department, where he was in charge of the Detroit area.

He returned to Belmont in 1980, where he lived while starting his robot manufacturing company, KOHOL Systems, in Washington Twp. He also married his wife, Therese, in 1980.

“We met on Oct. 30 at a Halloween party in Warren County when I was at UD,” said Mangold, who dressed as a college student, while Therese, a computer science major, came as a military officer. “She came from Fairfax, Va., to Wright State University on a swimming scholarship.”

The couple maintained a long-distance relationship after Mangold moved to Connecticut and later Michigan. When Therese graduated from WSU, she worked as a systems analyst for NCR.

Nick, the couple’s oldest child, graduated from Archbishop Alter High School in 2002 and attended Ohio State University on a football scholarship.

After graduating with a degree in operations management, he started playing for the New York Jets and married his high school sweetheart, the former Jennifer Richmond, daughter of Tom and Maureen Richmond of Kettering. The couple currently has a home in Chatham, N.J., and Washington Twp.

Kelley Mangold graduated from Alter High School in 2006 and has a swim scholarship to Agnes Scott College in Georgia, where she is studying English literature and French. She currently is the school’s aquatics director.

Holley Mangold, a 2008 graduate of Alter High School, earned national attention after following in her brother’s footsteps and joining the high school football team. She became the only female in Ohio to be on the field in a state championship game. She recently completed her freshman year at Ursaline College in Cleveland, where she attends on a track scholarship and is studying theology with a minor in sociology. Holley is a member of the women’s Olympic weight lifting team and recently finished ninth in the world championships held in Romania.

Maggey Mangold is a volleyball player entering the fifth grade at Incarnation Catholic School with plans to play trombone in the school band.

“I sold my business in 2000 and became a consultant,” said Mangold, who took Excedrin and drank coffee to combat the headache he had in the back of his skull prior to his hemorrhagic stroke. “There was stress in business. I had 65 employees on the payroll and robot equipment in 32 states and 19 countries.”

Despite the poor prognosis he received from his doctors at the University of Cincinnati, Mangold, who coached baseball at Alter and football at Incarnation and for the Wee Elks, recovered and was even treated later for the benign tumor on his adrenal gland that is thought to have precipitated the stroke.

With the support of his family, clients and friends, Mangold has returned to college at the University of Dayton to complete the 20 credits he needs to earn his bachelor’s degree.

Contact this columnist at (937) 432-9054 or jjbaer@aol.com.

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The title has nothing to do with the story.I kept reading, expecting the near death experience in the next praragraph but it never showed up. Very misleading and confusing.What does the kids schooling and accomplishment got to do with anything? Yes; it sounded more like an obituary!

A.Blay
3:56 PM, 8/15/2009

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Since his near death wasn't explained, here's mine. I served as an enlisted aircrewman in the Navy during Nam. I didn't see any light. We were hit by anti-aircraft fire at 8,000 ft. The aircraft went into a flat spin, I panicked, whizzed my pants, remembered "bailout" training, but due to the spin, g forces held me against the side of the fuselage. I realized I was going to die. A CALM I'VE NEVER EXPERIENCED SINCE CAME OVER ME. Hard to explain. We gained control at 800 ft., landed & survived.

Go to the light...
8:21 AM, 8/14/2009

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It should be titled, "Man goes back to finish his degree late in life." I don't see much change as a result of the illness. He has lived a good life with or without it. He is obviously a good guy now and was a good guy before this happened.
It's a good article, but the title is kinda off.
It ends too abruptly and more could have been said about why he decided to finish his degree at UD instead of going into the sports accomplishments of the daughter in grade school.
Just my opinion.

KJB
6:26 AM, 8/14/2009

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Huh? Is the paper afraid to write about a near death experience? I don't understand this article at all except that is talks about the mans education, his wife's education, his children's education, how he met his wife, what he did for a living, blah, blah, blah. Very boring and frankly I don't care what he did. I wanted to read about his near death experience. What a waste of time.

Debby
5:28 AM, 8/14/2009

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I kept reading & do not understand what his near-death-experience was.... I am not the only one, right?

Mary
11:17 PM, 8/13/2009

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