Patrick Crotty
14265 Wright Way
Broomfield CO 80023
It amazes me that we have all gone our separate ways for nearly 50 years and yet I can recall so many details of our early years in school together. It’s comforting to reflect on all of that, to learn of the lives of classmates, and to pause and remember those who are no longer with us.
I stumbled at first and finally achieved both Bachelor and Master degrees in Civil Engineering at UMass. Vietnam beckoned, but I was fortunate to serve with the Air Force as a Bio-Environmental Engineer in North Dakota, Texas and Michigan, and then transferred my Commission to the Public Health Service and spent 4 years with the Indian Health Service in Arizona, 19 with the Environmental Protection Agency in Denver, and my final 4 on assignment to the American Water Works Association. I continued refining utility improvement programs for AWWA and the Water Environment Federation for a few years following my USPHS retirement in 1999.
I met Judy Gilbert, a talented nursing student at the Massachusetts General Hospital through a friend while working with Tracerlab/Keleket/LFE in Waltham in 1963. We hit it off quickly and were married upon graduation in 1967. Our children, Sean and Brenda, are now married and have families of their own (upper right and lower left in photo below). Judy bravely fought breast cancer before succumbing in 1991. I smile through the tears when I think back on our life together.
Good fortune came my way again when Wanda Taunton and I were married in 1993. Together we have 6 children ages 37 to 48, and 12 grandchildren ages 1 to 15. It’s difficult getting the entire family together; but we are blessed that all but one son live within an hour’s drive.
Retirement has been good and our lives are full. Wanda and I have visited all 7 continents and some 60 countries. We always have a few trips in the planning stages. When at home in Broomfield, Colorado, we spend a good deal of time with our families and friends, visit both the gym and our doctors regularly (the latter more frequently each year), tick items off our bucket lists, and do volunteer work with various organizations. I still root for the Red Sox, Celtics, and Patriots.
For now, sláinte mhaith and nazdrovje, toasts meaning roughly “to your health” in the languages of my Irish and Polish ancestors. I hope to see you in September.
