Robert "Bob"McCARTHY 

Robert McCarthy

Autobiography (Updated 2026)

After graduation, I attended UConn where I met Joan Mather. We got married in 1964. One year later, our life was interrupted, like many others, by war. Rather than be drafted, I enlisted in the U.S. Army and became an instructor in the High-Altitude Missile Department in Fort Bliss Texas. During this deployment our two sons, Brendan and Sean, were born. Discharged in 1969, we returned to UConn. I completed my BA and went to work for Aetna Insurance Company. One year later I was a single parent to our young sons - another marriage, a casualty of an overseas deployment. 

Two years I met Jan. We married in Peoples Forest, Barkhamsted, in October 1974 on a perfect Connecticut fall day. We discovered we are both adventurers. Wanting a fresh start, we looked west. Driving into Portland on a rainy November day with our boys, a cat and everything we owned, we felt at home. Now after 51 years, we are Northwesterners. 

The meat cutting trade I learned at Mac’s Market, our family butcher store, served me well. I managed a market for 9 months in Portland before joining Kaiser Permanente as an organization development (OD) consultant. OD became my calling; helping people to build trust and work together to manage complex strategic and cultural change. 1980, with an MS from Pepperdine University, I began my private practice. Over 40 years I have been privileged to work with the leaders of 200 public and private organizations.

Early on, feeling constrained with 3-piece suits and Portland’s staid downtown office life, we bought and refit a 41’ sloop as an office. We named her ‘Venture’ and berthed her on the Willamette River in the city’s center adjacent to a good restaurant. After a meal, clients enjoyed the informal environment of our floating office to do serious work. 

Over nine summers we sailed ‘Venture’ north, exploring the San Juan and Gulf Islands, Desolation Sound, the west coast of Vancouver Island and the Boughten Islands. In 1991, when ‘Venture’ burned in a marina fire, we bought a Norseman 447 cutter and named her ’Kinship.’ The next year we sailed ‘Kinship’ to Mexico with our two sons, Devin (14), and Colin (4). Over the years, in three cruising sailboats, with family and friends, and Jan as the navigator, we have sailed nearly 20,000 nautical miles exploring the Pacific Northwest from Mexico to northern British Columbia. 

Our home in West Linn is our refuge, with its apple, pear and plum trees, mason bees, green house and raised bed gardens. Our organic fruits and vegetables feed us much of the year. Here we have made a wonderful life with friends and family. Three of our four sons are married, giving us six grandchildren. All live near enough for us to gather for holidays and special occasions. Nothing could be better.

Jan and I are both retired, but volunteer in our community and travel. I also write. My first book, Navigating with Trust, 2012 is a guide for leaders and their consultants. The second, The Lost Irish Brother, will be published this fall. It is a story of growing up in Westport and working in our family market. A third book that we will write together is the story of our sailing adventures.  

I am sad to see that we have lost so many friends, but happy to reconnect with those still here. I am looking forward to hearing your stories and catching up.