Auto-shop class was where Marie Lerch learned to change spark plugs and switch out transmission fluid, but it also gave her everyday lessons to use throughout her life.  

The most valuable education in her career was gained when she took night school automotive repair classes, Lerch told the New York Times.

Almost 20 years after his death, Lerch remembers her instructor, Bill Campbell, and the life lessons woven throughout his mechanics instruction.

"To me that class was a life changer because of Bill Campbell," said the semiretired former marketing executive. "These were lessons you heard your entire life, but they were mere abstractions. In this class they were no longer abstractions, they became so real and soaked in."

Lerch worked on her 1978 Chevrolet Camaro, which goes by the moniker "Little Monster" and is still kicking today.

One of Campbell's special teaching methods was to build on his pupils' strengths; for example, Lerch--who has been described as "delicate" by a high school acquaintance--has slender arms that are excellent for difficult-to-reach spark plugs.

In another lesson, Lerch conquered her bad habit of tending to hurry through tasks when she changed the transmission fluid on her Camaro too hastily and then the car wouldn't shift gears.

Campbell, whom the Times describes as a soft-spoken African-American man, quietly noted that Lerch had turned the filter the wrong way while changing the transmission fluid, which blocks the linkage.

"I felt like, 'Well, he's so right,' " Lerch told the Times. "People always told me to slow down. He really got me to be mindful."

Lerch and Campbell stayed in touch and occasionally reunited to talk about cars over lunch until the mentor died of a heart attack at the age of 63.

Little Monster is still running, but the Camaro is mostly kept in the garage or taken on pleasure rides to the park. Like the treasured car, Lerch has kept Campbell's lessons alive.

"That class made me, as a leader, want to be like Bill," she said.

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