Robert "Bob"McCARTHY

Robert McCarthy

Bob's Updated Autobiography (2021)

After graduation, I attended UConn where I did well or badly depending on the distractions. In 1964, I married Brooke Mather. We began a life whose patterns were interrupted, like many others, by war. Rather than be drafted, I enlisted in the Army in 1966. I was discharged in 1969.

In 1970, two years after returning to UConn from overseas to complete my bachelor's degree, I became the single parent to our 3 and 4 year old sons - another marriage casualty of Vietnam. Life became infinitely more challenging and rewarding.

Over the next three years, Jan became a part of our lives. Now 46 years later, with love, luck, and hard work, we have made a wonderful life together. We raised and helped raise four sons; Brendan (53), Sean (52), Devin (42), and, Colin (32 yikes!). Bren. Sean and Devin have families of their own, so we are grandparents to Hayley (23), Samantha (21), Riley (18), Brady (13), and

Margaret (3). Today our clan, with Brooke and her husband, Cliff, live close by. Together we share birthdays, family gatherings, kid’s sports, and holidays – we are healthy, connected and bound by love.

Early on I learned that Jan is an explorer. In 1975, one a year after our wedding on an October day in People’s Forest, Barkhamsted, we headed west with the boys, a cat, and plant cuttings in a 1970 Chevy towing a trailer with our worldly possessions.

We drove into Portland on a rainy November day and felt at home. It was green! The craft I learned at Mac’s Market, our family butcher store, served me well. I managed a market for a 9 months before joining Kaiser Permanente as an organization development consultant; work I had done with Aetna in Hartford. This became my calling; helping people build trust and work together to manage complex change. Two years later, halfway through a Pepperdine master of science, I left Kaiser and began my private practice, eventually working with 200 public and private organizations.

Early on, feeling constrained with staid downtown business life, we bought and refit a 41’ sloop as an office. We berthed “Venture” in the city center adjacent to a good restaurant. Clients enjoyed my floating office to do our serious work.

Summers we sailed “Venture” north exploring the San Juan, Gulf Islands and northern waters of British Columbia. In 1991 when “Venture” burned in a marina

fire, we bought a Norseman 447 cutter, named her “Kinship” and sailed to Mexico on a year’s sabbatical with Devin then 14 and Colin, 4. Over the years with Jan as navigator, we have sailed 20,000 miles exploring the Pacific Northwest.

Our home in West Linn is our refuge with its apple, pear and plum trees, green house and raised bed gardens that feed us much of the year. Here gather friends and family for music, apple pressing, seasonal and holiday parties. I am semi-retired, but continue to advise leaders, work in our community and write. My book, Navigating With Trust was published in 2012.

I am looking forward to hearing all your stories and catching up.