Kentucky
Kentucky by Heart: Dale Woolum exits rocky path to one of positive fulfillment and concern for others
Editor’s be aware: That is the second of a two-part about William “Dale” Woolum, who till his current launch, spent 4 many years incarcerated in numerous prisons, together with the Kentucky Penitentiary. Final week’s half one chronicled his time in jail. Half two appears on the challenges of the previous and extra just lately, his striving to turn into a mannequin citizen going ahead.
By Steve Flairty
NKyTribune columnist
It’s now straightforward to see that younger Dale Woolum, raised in Barbourville, Kentucky, born on September 5, 1956, was early on headed within the flawed course. He was raised one in all nineteen kids in a poor household. He was not shut along with his coal miner father (who died in 1971), and his mom felt overwhelmed with the pressures of conserving the household from drowning in despair. It didn’t assist that she was shot within the shoulder by a neighbor—if not lethal, issues had been made worse for all concerned. The household struggled, they wanted assist, and Dale’s private habits was unhealthy; it shouldn’t shock that most of the Woolum kids had been transferred to foster properties, together with Dale.
Photos of the tumultuous occasions are vivid in his reminiscence. “I bear in mind being shuffled from foster dwelling to foster dwelling in my youthful years,” he stated, “kicking and screaming and being taken to an enormous automotive. I discovered emotional traits that an grownup would have had at the moment… anger, hate, rage.”
Although his dwelling couldn’t be construed to be a contented one, younger Dale was saddened when away. He recollects a time being at a foster dwelling and, in his thoughts, “trying within the distance and seeing Mother and Dad’s home although it was eleven to 12 miles away.” He doesn’t bear in mind any of the foster placings being a great match, although he talked about dwelling with a constable for some time, and “he was a reasonably good man.”
Earlier than turning into youngsters, his twin brother, Don, and he had been despatched to Outwood, an institutional dwelling in Dawson Springs. Calling it “extra like a hospital,” Dale didn’t modify properly. He didn’t get together with different residents; he was a rowdy type and suffered bodily accidents along with his reckless methods.
Dale Woolum along with his fiance Tracy Brundege (Photograph from Tracy Brundege)
Immediately, he thinks exhausting about these darkish early days. “Why I did all of the dumb stuff I did, I don’t know,” he stated. “Maybe, as a result of I got here from a dysfunctional dwelling and wasn’t getting the eye I wanted there.” However even when he obtained a few of the good type of consideration from well-meaning sources, Dale famous that he usually wouldn’t settle for it. He readily admits that “sympathy” might be added to his record of intense feelings in that stage of life.
Dale returned to Barbourville, and his teen years noticed extra hassle with legislation authorities. He was despatched for some time to Kentucky Village, a reform faculty. Later, after leaving there, he had a brief, ill-advised, and unsuccessful marriage. He would be a part of the U.S. Military, however after what he stated was a “mutual” settlement, he was launched after a short time due to his incapability to regulate.
However folks can change for the higher, usually with habits tweaks, in time, that accumulatively register in a big approach. Quick ahead to Dale’s jail years, written about beforehand. As talked about, he usually worsened his incarceration state of affairs by his actions. However throughout a kind of occasions, whereas transferring from the Kentucky Penitentiary in 1989 and processing into a jail in Florida, one thing hopeful emerged from an unpleasant occasion.
Feeling verbally abused by officers, a psychiatrist he noticed afterward considerably labored to diffuse the incident. Nonetheless, throughout these moments, Dale recollects that he held on to his anger and cursed God. He was positioned in a segregated cell, a transfer he thought grossly unfair. Emotionally distraught, he tried to make sense of the state of affairs.
“As I paced the ground,” he stated, “I mumbled, cursing God, and would climb on the highest bunk, despite the fact that I used to be within the cell myself, and look out the window and see different inmates and workers going to and from, chatting in what seemed to be a sunny and heat day. I paced the ground 4 hours, stopping every now and then to learn a few of the Bible, solely to curse God once more.”
However within the second of turmoil, he was additionally pondering the phrases he obtained from an inmate in Kentucky earlier than he transferred to Florida. The message was about God, the Bible, and forgiveness, a message that beforehand had confused and even agitated Dale.
“I slammed my head into the metallic window body simply to really feel the ache,” he continued. “One thing that was actual… to really feel something apart from the harm and rage I felt inside. As I paced the ground once more, I started shaking and fell to my knees and cried out to God to forgive me. I started crying bodily tears for the primary time, most likely since my childhood. It was like a floodgate was opened and I might see myself for the primary time.”
Not lengthy afterward whereas carrying shackles and cuffs and being transferred to the Florida State Jail, Dale obtained conciliatory phrases from an officer he had confronted beforehand. The officer additionally shared his non secular religion with Dale.
These experiences, he acknowledges at this time, introduced an essential sense of self-awareness proving new to his existence. It portended the beginning of a brand new life. “Additional hardships would enable me to look deeper for solutions that I knew had been lingering,” he stated. “This started my transformation. I allowed myself to turn into concerned in cognitive expertise applications in addition to numerous non secular applications. Over the rest of my incarceration within the state of Florida, I believed rather a lot about that incident.”
He returned to Kentucky Penitentiary in July 2001. Altogether, he possessed a transparent conduct report of seventeen years. Somebody very accustomed to Dale’s previous seen a marked change within the long-time inmate when he bought again to Eddyville. Invoice Cunningham, famous earlier because the prosecutor of Dale’s stabbing case in 1981, was amazed after initially seeing Dale at his worst many years in the past. In Invoice’s just lately revealed memoir, I used to be Born After I was Very Younger,” he talked about Dale’s change (referring to him as “William”).
“… I started to listen to concerning the new William Woolum,” wrote Invoice. “I started to see him sometimes. We turned associates. I might inform by him and speaking to him, he was a unique particular person. I used to be impressed and puzzled how lengthy it might final. I’ve all the time been fascinated by unhealthy individuals who turn into good folks. Not below the warmth of revival night time conversion, who return to consuming and debauchery inside weeks–however completely change—a change you possibly can sense all the way down to the underside of their shoe leather-based.”
Invoice additionally famous that Dale associated the change to him merely, saying solely: “I discovered God.” Not having mentioned it intimately, Invoice is satisfied that actions now outline his previous good friend and make his life a real “really feel good” story.
Little question, Dale’s turnaround can also be supported vastly by the long-distance relationship he established in September of 2018 along with his fiancé, Tracy Brundege. “We met by way of a Fb web page a good friend had posted for me,” stated Dale. “Tracy responded to it, and after I heard her voice and browse her candy messages, I felt instantly that God has despatched me an angel. She’s been with me by way of plenty of trials and selfless sacrifices and giving in a profound approach that I hadn’t seen even in my family.”
Moreover staying out of hassle and collaborating in lots of academic outreach applications provided him inside the jail gates, Dale and one other inmate partnered to do one thing to assist susceptible people outdoors their very own world. “I needed to be concerned and with one thing that will have which means and objective, so collectively we wrote by-laws to a undertaking known as The Kids’s Fund Challenge. With the assistance of numerous inmates, we raised over $100,000 in money worth to assist the sick and needy kids all through western Kentucky and different components of the state.” A part of the initiative was to make arts and crafts (together with a big dollhouse), a few of which had been bought to be used of the fund.
“I search no glory within the mentioning of those acts of compassion, however accomplish that in an effort to show that I’m now not the identical ignorant man I as soon as was,” Dale stated, “and hopefully, to encourage somebody who could also be going by way of that I went by way of again then, or in my ‘hay days’ of elevating hell, that they can also maybe discover which means and objective in turning into concerned in one thing constructive and as a method to and finish apart from a reckless and damaging life-style.”
As is commonly stated, individuals are able to turning from a rocky path resulting in doom and onto a path of constructive achievement and concern for others. It’s troublesome. It takes is a few assist and an dependable mindset to make it occur. For this man, it seems to be his honest aim.
“I’ve executed plenty of flawed in my life, and don’t profess that I’m harmless of something that I’ve been accused of, nor deserving of something, however have merely requested for mercy based mostly upon the proof of my modified life,” stated Dale. “I really feel that I’ve obtained what I’ve by the grace of God—and the state of Kentucky, regardless of my horrendous previous.”
Dangle in there, William Dale Woolum… and preserve inspiring us!