Chuck Denny
A couple of nights ago, I was eating dinner at the Lotus Cafe in Encinitas when I heard a man two tables away tell a server, “I’m a Minnesota boy who lives in Del Mar [just a few miles away from Encinitas].” As he and his son were preparing to leave, I walked over and introduced myself as a fellow Minnesotan. When he said his name was Kevin Denny. I asked, “Are you related to Chuck Denny”? “Yes, that’s my father,” he said. Quite the synchronicity!
In 2012, I was editing a book called Leadership and the Art of Struggle, in which Chuck Denny was praised by the author, Steven Snyder thusly:
Of all the leaders I met during my interviews, no one exudes the type of gratitude and appreciation for life’s precious moments more than Chuck Denny. Denny has endured more than his share of struggles and heartache. His wife suffered through tuberculosis and breast cancer before ultimately losing her battle with Alzheimer’s. They lost three children at very young ages. Yet Denny continues to persist in seeing the bright side of life. Now in his eighties, he told me, “Use your smiles now because you can’t take them with you when you die.”
Denny humbly credits much of his positive outlook to optimistic genes, but I think there’s something else at work. As Denny shared with me his many experiences, first as an executive with Honeywell and then as CEO of ADC Telecommunications, I couldn’t help but notice his gift for making others feel genuinely cared for and appreciated by celebrating the goodness in everything they do.
In the midst of that book project, I wrote a series of brief profiles of business and community leaders for Twin Cities Business magazine. One of the people I was assigned to write about was Chuck Denny. When I called Steven as part of my research, he affirmed what a wonderful, kind-hearted man Chuck was. When I called Chuck myself, I found him to be a gracious, warm human being. Here’s what I submitted to the magazine:
CHARLES DENNY JR.
A nonprofit with a problem to solve will soon have a former problem if it turns to Chuck Denny for some free advice. Yes, that Chuck Denny, the former CEO of ADC Telecommunications who spends his retirement years lending his considerable business experience and expertise to numerous community and nonprofit boards. For years, Denny, whose genuine warmth and kindness is legendary, has been a dominant figure in defining, publicizing and advancing corporate ethics. But what he most enjoys today is volunteering as a GED math tutor to parolees from the court system for Minneapolis Public Schools.
When I told Kevin about my connection to his father, he suggested that I send his dad an e-mail. I didn’t have Chuck’s e-mail so Kevin gave it to me and I fired it off that night. However, I obviously copied Chuck’s e-mail address down incorrectly because not long after, I received a reply from a Cameron Denny who said that he was not related to Chuck and Kevin but that he was also a native Minnesotan who was living in southern California. Talk about synchronicity squared!
I have yet to connect with Chuck Denny again but I am grateful that our paths continue to cross!
Click here to see all my posts featuring cool synchronicity stories.
ABOUT PHIL BOLSTA
Phil is the author of Through God’s Eyes: Finding Peace and Purpose in a Troubled World, a comprehensive guide to living a spiritual life. Who will benefit from reading it?
Anyone who is on a spiritual path, or wants to start one
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Phil’s eBook, The Logic of Living a Spiritual Life: Supporting a Life of Faith Through Logic and Reason, is now available for 99 cents on Amazon.
Order it at GodIsLogical.com.
In this eBook, you’ll find answers to questions like:
• What is the cornerstone of a spiritual life, and why?
• What is the secret to liberating yourself from other people’s judgments and expectations?
• Why is there an exception to “Everything happens for a reason”?
Those who worship logic instead of God are only half right. Not only is it logical to believe in God and to live a faith-based life, the existence of a loving, benevolent God that governs all creation is perhaps the only systematic worldview that explains every aspect of life.
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Phil is also the author of Sixty Seconds: One Moment Changes Everything, a collection of 45 inspiring, life-changing stories from prominent people he interviewed, including Joan Borysenko, Deepak Chopra, geneticist Dr. Francis Collins, acclaimed sportswriter Frank Deford, Dr. Larry Dossey, Wayne Dyer, Dan Millman, Caroline Myss, Dr. Christiane Northrup, Dr. Dean Ornish, Dr. Rachel Naomi Remen, Dr. Bernie Siegel, James Van Praagh, singer Billy Vera, Doreen Virtue, Neale Donald Walsch, and bassist Victor Wooten.
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Reading this book is like spending a few minutes face to face with each of the contributors and listening to their personal stories. Click here to read unsolicited testimonials from readers. Learn more by visiting the official Sixty Seconds website.
Sixty Seconds was one of three finalists in the General Interest/How-To category at the 12th annual Visionary Awards presented by COVR (Coalition of Visionary Resources) in Denver on June 27, 2009.
Tags: Chuck Denny, synchronicity
Triumph of the Spirit 
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