Bruce Holecek (BSGE 1971): Memories of Jerry Dobrovolny

1/29/2018 Madeleine Hubbard

ISE Alum Bruce Holecek fondly remembers Professor Dobrovolny. 

Written by Madeleine Hubbard

Holecek and Dobrovolny as they prepare to fly in Holecek's L-39 Fighter Jet
Holecek and Dobrovolny as they prepare to fly in Holecek's L-39 Fighter Jet

Bruce Holecek first met former Department Head Jerry Dobrovolny when Holecek was an undergraduate majoring in General Engineering (now Systems Engineering and Design). Dobrovolny became his mentor. 

Later in life the two became good friends. When Dobrovolny passed away in October 2017, Holecek says, “I lost a very, very good friend. I lost a professor, a mentor, a business helper, and a good friend. I am really saddened by his loss.”

Holecek and Dobrovolny pose together in front of a Rolls Royce in Holecek's living room.
Holecek and Dobrovolny pose together in front of a Rolls Royce in Holecek's living room.

Without Jerry Dobrovolny, Bruce Holecek would not be the successful businessman he is today, nor would ISE be the successful program it has become. Holecek says that Dobrovolny “made that department of General Engineering what it was against great odds. He was a remarkable individual in many respects.”

The two first met in Dobrovolny’s Senior Design course, which is still the capstone course of the ISE curriculum. Holecek says, “Dobrovolny always made a point of telling the students, ‘I’m the department head, but I’m really here for you. If there’s anything I can ever do to help you as a general engineering student, come see me. My door is open.’” 

Holecek did very well in that class, earning an “A” and going on to graduate from General Engineering with Honors in 1972. But, when he applied for admission into the MBA program he was rejected due to a low ATGSB (Admission Test for Graduate Studies in Business) score. 

When Holecek told Dobrovolny of this, Dobrovolny immediately called the director of admissions to issue a stern reference on Holecek’s behalf. Holecek was then immediately accepted into the MBA program. Holecek says, “Amazing what one phone call from Jerry Dobrovolny could do!”

 “This was the way Dobrovolny operated. He was very short on words, very precise in what he said, very abrupt. Some people thought that he was kind of difficult to deal with because of his abruptness, but that’s how he did telephone calls. He never said, ‘goodbye’ or anything. He would just hang up when he was done talking,” says Holecek

This was not the only time Dobrovolny helped Holecek in life.

While earning his MBA, Holecek says Dobrovolny hired him as a Teaching Assistant in General Engineering. This helped Holecek support his young family and pay for his master’s. Also as a graduate student, Holecek started a little mail order company called Tower Hobbies selling radio controlled model airplanes. Holecek had problems finding a bank willing to loan him the money to begin the fledgling business. He approached Dobrovolny with the problem. After Dobrovolny called the President of The Commercial Bank, Holecek was able to get the loan he needed. Holecek says, “Again, amazing what one phone call from Jerry Dobrovolny could do!”

Holecek says, “These were extremely pivotal things in my life at that time. They made a huge difference in my ability to be able to do what I ended up doing with my life.”

Dobrovolny also encouraged Holecek to understand the importance of diversifying how he earned income. Parked right outside the Transportation Building was, as Holecek says, “a big, majestic Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham d’Elegance Sedan.” After Holecek found out Dobrovolny owned the car, Dobrovolny took him on a ride around Champaign. Dobrovolny showed Holecek 10 apartment complexes he owned in the city. Holecek says, “Here the head of the department takes me out, he gives me the royal tour of Champaign, and he says, ‘Bruce, this is how you do it. You need to get involved in business where you’ve got something that is going to pay you an annuity. This is how I made my money. Not from being the department head and not from teaching, but I made my money in real estate.’” 

Holecek says, “I used to just walk by it everyday and go ‘Wow! Someday, I’m going to be successful enough to own a Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham d’Elegance,’ and so Jerry Dobrovolny inspired me, with the car that he had parked out there to say, ‘Someday I’m going to be able to do what Jerry Dobrovolny did.’” This inspired Holecek to become a successful businessman himself. 

Years later, Holecek moved to Naples, Florida. After retiring, Dobrovolny bought a house in Naples, and would spend the winters in Florida and the summers in Champaign as a typical Florida/Illinois “snowbird”. Over the next 24 years Dobrovolny and Holecek would occasionally get together to visit, reminisce about the good old days of General Engineering, have lunch together, and to do some exciting things like flying in Holecek’s L-39 Fighter Jet!

The last 3 years of Dobrovolny’s life were spent in Florida only, as his wife’s health precluded going back to Champaign for the summer season. Now that Dobrovolny was a “full time resident” of Florida he and Holecek would have lunch together once a week at Holecek’s wife’s LuLu B’s Grill restaurant. He became a real “regular” and the waitresses just loved him and gave him extra special service with lots of hugs, which he loved!    

Dobrovolny giving Holecek the textbook on March 18, 2017, during one of their lunches at LuLu B's Grill.
Dobrovolny giving Holecek the textbook on March 18, 2017, during one of their lunches at LuLu B's Grill.

When Dobrovolny turned 92 and had difficulties driving, Holecek would pick him up each week and they would drive around town sightseeing and go to lunch. Near the end of Dobrovolny’s life, Holecek would bring coffee and treats over to his house on Saturday afternoons for him. 

Both men had quite a bit in common. Born and raised in the Chicago area, both men came from Czech immigrant families of modest means. They both went to the University of Illinois, and ended up having successful careers. 

Dobrovolny asked Holecek how he could show his gratitude for their friendship. Holecek said, “Jerry, I don’t want anything. I don’t need anything. I’m just enjoying being friends with you.” Dobrovolny was persistent. So, because Holecek was a TA for GE 103, a class for which Dobrovolny wrote the textbook, Holecek asked for Jerry’s personal original copy of the GE 103 textbook. Holecek says, “That is my absolute greatest memory of being at the University of Illinois, having this autographed textbook from Jerry Dobrovolny. That made him so happy, that he was able to give me something that really meant a lot to me.”

Repeating advice that Dobrovolny gave him, Holecek says, “If you work hard and you put the effort into it and you love what you’re doing, you will be successful. I think those are just the key ingredients in life… to do something you enjoy, and give it 100%. And you will be successful. And that’s what Jerry did and that’s what I did with my life too.”

Near the end of his life, Dobrovolny focused on taking care of his wife of over 70 years. In his conversations with Dobrovolny, Holecek says, “We used to reduce things down to that one basic thing, ‘Jerry you’re a very lucky guy to be where you are’ and he appreciated it. He was aware of it, he acknowledged it and he was very thankful for it… It got down to where one thing was important to him in his life and that was to be able to provide health care to his wife.”

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This story was published January 29, 2018.