Updates from old friends and dear readers
Compiled and edited by Veronica M. Berounsky
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1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s | In Memoriam
1970s
Paul Boehm (M.S. 1973, Ph.D. 1977), top, and John Farrington (Ph.D. 1972) headed up the effort to produce a special issue of the journal Marine Pollution Bulletin entitled: “Organic Chemicals and Marine Environmental Quality Research: A Tribute to James G. Quinn” It includes papers by six of Quinn’s former students.
Marine explorer and GSO professor Robert Ballard (Ph.D. 1974), is looking back at his 50-year career of discovery by publishing a memoir, “Into the Deep,” recounting the backstories of many of his adventures, as well as some personal revelations.
Despite the pandemic, GSO celebrated the 2020 holiday season with an online gathering. There was also a competition: Best Holiday Hat – GSO professor Robert Ballard (who actually had several hats); Ugliest Holiday Sweater – GSO postdoc Pierre Marrec; Best Virtual Background – GSO professor Keisuke Inomura ; and Best GSO Spirit – GSO Alumni Coordinator Veronica Berounsky (Ph.D. 1990).
Chathuarveedu (CK) Unni (Ph.D. 1976) and his wife flew to Portland, Ore. in July and then drove to Corvallis and met up with Martin (Marty) Fisk (Ph.D. 1978) and Gary Klinkhammer (Ph.D. 1979). Both are currently professors emeriti at Oregon State University. They spent time together reminiscing the good old days at GSO while graduate students. (Marty wrote in to say that specifically they talked about “North Lab parties, boat burnings, Twin Willows, and GSO faculty.”)
After obtaining his doctorate in Geochemistry in Dec. 1976, followed by a stint in atmospheric chemistry with Bob Duce, CK became a project geochemist in Tucson, Ariz. Then he switched gears into material science/metallurgy and spent 30 years as an aerospace engineer in Fort Worth, Tex. For the past four years, he has been helping his older son run the family business, Delta Botanicals Inc., based in Baltimore, Md. CK is passionate about natural products/botanicals and conducts research on their medicinal/therapeutic properties. CK says “This is my final act in my sunset years and I hope to continue this work as long as I can.”
1980s
Jerry L. Miller (M.S. 1982) and his wife Bonny have moved to Columbia, S.C., near where he grew up. They are enjoying all that the University of South Carolina and the state capitol offers. They look forward to a jaunt to New England.
Leslie Bulion (M.S. 1983) had a new science poetry collection, “SPI-KU: A Clutter of Short Verse on Eight Legs,” published in March, 2021.
Hua-Sheng Hong (Ph.D. 1984) reports that since November 1984 she has been at Xiamen University. She visited John Knauss in Saunderstown during an official visit in 2006.
Mary Baker Wiley (M.S. 1986) reports that “Retirement is still agreeing with me. Both boys are married, and Sam and I are grandparents to a little girl!”
Jamie (James) Maughan (Ph.D. 1986) was the featured guest for the fourth installment of GSO’s Student-Alum Networking Series. His talk was entitled “How GSO Research led to Environmental Consulting which led to a Multifaceted Environmental Advocacy, Academic, and Policy Career.”
As a public service, GSO monitors the beach at the end of South Ferry Road for bacteria every other Wednesday from May to October. One of the volunteer monitors was Lucie Maranda (Ph.D. 1987). For the two years of sampling, the beach bacteria levels have always been safe for swimming.
Jeff Frithsen (Ph.D. 1984) and his wife Elise both retired from the EPA in May and sailed their 37-foot boat, Septentrio, up from Maryland to Maine. While they were moored off the Bay Campus, many alums joined them for a beach picnic dinner.
In February 2021, the chief scientist of Endeavor mission EN663 was William (Bill) Johns (Ph.D. 1984). He wrote “My research group and I from the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami in Florida are presently offshore of the Bahamas in semi-tropical conditions. As a GSO alum I have been proud to use the Endeavor on a number of my research projects over the last several decades, much of it in this same region where we are studying the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation and the Deep Western Boundary Current. She has been a legendary ship and we will be sad to see her go, but we’re also looking forward to the capabilities of the new RCRV.” Another alum, Christopher Meinen (Ph.D. 1998) has been working with Bill several years now. Also on the February cruise was Gabriel Matthias (M.O. 2012), one of the ship technicians.
Stephen Dickson (M.S. 1986) has co-authored a chapter on sea level rise and storm surge for the Maine Climate Council. The council’s action plan came out Dec. 1, 2020 and sets a course for the next four years.
To celebrate April Fool’s Day and GSO’s 60th Anniversary during the pandemic, another long-standing tradition, the GSO Harpoon Seminar, came back via Zoom. Walter Berry (Ph.D. 1987) developed an online game that asked participants to answer questions from categories such as: “GSO people,” “GSO History and Places,” “Famous Research Vessels,” and “Harpoon History.” The 120 participants attended from as far east as Norway, west as California, and as close as the Dean’s Office.
1990s
In July 2021, the National Science Foundation announced that Alexandra Isern (M.S. 1990) will be the next assistant director of its Directorate for Geosciences. She has spent the last 20 years at NSF serving in various roles within three divisions of the directorate, including leading the Surface Earth Processes and Antarctic Sciences sections. The news was also announced on Twitter by Alex’s major professor, Margaret Leinen (Ph.D. 1980).
2000s
Paula S Bontempi (Ph.D. 2001) has taken a new position as dean of the Graduate School of Oceanography, as you may all know. She now resides in Rhode Island with her husband Whitley Saumweber (Ph.D. 2005).
GSO marine research associate Roger Patrick (Pat) Kelly (M.S. 2001) has been busy participating in research cruises. [See banner at top of page.] In March 2021 he was in the Gulf of Mexico aboard the R/V Pelican. The GSO team, in collaboration with Texas A&M scientists, examined the chemical cycles of nitrogen, carbon, iron and manganese along an estuarine gradient and in relation to decreasing oxygen levels. When that cruise finished, Pat went out in the North Atlantic, to participate in the EXPORTS cruise which utilized three research vessels—Cook, Discovery, and Sarmiento. By the end of June, the storms had finally eased, a lot of science was accomplished, and the scientific team was happy to arrive home.
Sunshine Menezes (Ph.D. 2005), executive director of the Metcalf Institute at URI co-authored a summary of the results of a study of the early leaders in the growing inclusive science communication movement.
Rebecca Asch (M.S. 2006) is an assistant professor at East Carolina University in the Department of Biology. During summer 2021 her lab was funded to do a study on the impact of experimental, summer ship-channel maintenance dredging on larval fish abundance and community composition in Beaufort Inlet and Cape Fear River Inlet in North Carolina.
University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science associate professor Lora Harris (Ph.D. 2006) has been given the “Seeking Solutions for Global Challenges Award” by the Fulbright Finland Foundation in Helsinki. She will conduct research on coastal restoration and apply her understanding of restoration successes and challenges in the Chesapeake Bay to the Baltic Sea.
In April, Jennifer L. Miksis-Olds, (Ph.D. 2006) was a guest on GSO’s Ocean Classroom (Live!). The episode was entitled “The Art of Ocean Acoustics.” Jen is director of the Center for Acoustics Research and Education at the University of New Hampshire. She was joined by textile artist Lindsay Olson who has been working with Jen on ways to bridge the worlds of art and underwater sound.
Kelly Henry (M.S. 2007) is living in Wales but visited Rhode Island in May and examined the very large quahog found by a young man earlier this year in one of the state’s coastal ponds. Kelly’s thesis was on quahogs and included models that attempted to define the age of the clam. A definitive age was not confirmed but Kelly provided much useful information.
In a new Quanta Magazine podcast, GSO professor Steven D’Hondt and Justine Sauvage (M.S. 2003, Ph.D. 2008) discussed the results of nearly two decades’ worth of detailed evidence that radiolysis is important for sustaining marine subsurface life.
GSO professor Colleen Mouw (M.S. 2003, Ph.D. 2009) chairs the Narragansett Bay Campus justice, equity, diversity and inclusion (JEDI) committee, which was formed to guide NBC’s commitment to improve campus climate; enhance outreach efforts; and ensure that personnel recruitment, retention, and promotion policies reflect JEDI goals and values.
Marisa L Guarinello (M.S. 2009) is a senior scientist at INSPIRE Environmental, leading habitat mapping efforts for the company. She is very excited to be working on a regional-habitat mapping project with fellow GSO alum Emily Shumchenia (Ph.D. 2010).
2010s
On Thursday Dec. 17, 2020, three GSO alums were featured on GSO’s Ocean Classroom (Live!). A live audience listened to Autumn Oczkowski (Ph.D. 2009), Leslie Smith (Ph.D. 2011) and Anupa Asokan (M.O. 2012, MBA 2012) as they reflected on their time at GSO and their career paths since then.
Katy Croff Bell (Ph.D. 2011) was featured on CBS on Mission Unstoppable, a kids’ TV show that highlights female innovators who are on the cutting edge of science. Katy demonstrates technology used to explore the deep ocean.
Hailey Simpson (M.O. 2012) recently moved from Connecticut to sunny California. She is still a coastal engineer with RACE Coastal Engineering.
Matt Baumann (Ph.D. 2013) was the featured guest for the first installment of GSO’s Student-Alum Networking Series. His talk was entitled “Private and Public Sector Perspectives.”
Dayna Rignanese (M.O. 2013) was the featured guest for the second installment of GSO’s Student-Alum Networking Series. Her talk was entitled “Reaching the Next Ocean Stewards.”
Kari (Pohl) St. Laurent (Ph.D. 2014) is an environmental scientist at Delaware’s Dept. of Natural Resources and Environmental Control. She still lives in Maryland with her husband Michael St. Laurent (M.S. 2012).
Courtney Schmidt (M.S. 2009, Ph.D. 2014) is the staff scientist at the Narragansett Bay Estuary Program, which hosted a webinar entitled, “A Changing Narragansett Bay: Focus on Mount Hope Bay.” One of the talks, “Examining the effects of the Brayton Point Power Station on Mt. Hope Bay’s finfish community and Integrated Reporting implications” was co-authored by Corinne Truesdale (M.S. 2018)
Sarah Fuller (M.S. 2015) was the featured guest for the third installment of GSO’s Student-Alum Networking Series. Her talk was entitled “Field Work to Field Support—A Career in Supporting Academia.”
Anna J. (Malek) Mercer (Ph.D. 2015) recently became director of the Northeast Fisheries Science Center’s Narragansett Laboratory on the Bay Campus. In this role, she is looking forward to expanding NEFSC’s collaborations with GSO.
Brita Jessen (Ph.D. 2016) recently moved to Charlestown, S.C., as the interdisciplinary research and partnerships lead, a new job created for her at South Carolina Sea Grant. The overall goal will be to build long-term, research-to-action programs and engage non-traditional partners.
Yackar L. Mauzole (M.S. 2014, Ph.D. 2017) was the featured guest for the fifth installment of GSO’s Student-Alum Networking Series. Her talk was entitled “A Journey to Become an Oceanographer: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly.”
Steven Tadros (M.O. 2017) has accepted a new position with Vineyard Wind as their Rhode Island liaison. He will be engaging with stakeholders and community members regarding Vineyard Wind’s ongoing offshore wind projects.
Casey (Dannhauser) Chatelain (M.O. 2019) is enjoying her job as special projects manager at Barnstable Clean Water Coalition.
Colleen Peters (M.O. 2019, MBA 2019) now works at Saildrone, running seafloor mapping surveys on the new Saildrone Surveyor, evaluating data quality and developing the bathymetry data pipeline for processing, delivery and archival. This is the first (and only) remotely operated un-crewed vehicle for deep-sea mapping. Colleen still lives in R.I. but travels to some sites to see Saildrone Surveyor at work.
2020s
Congratulations to Nick Celico (M.O. 2020) for winning the 2021 Blessing of the Fleet Road Race in Narragansett, R.I. Nick was GSO’s first varsity athlete, running for the URI track and cross-country teams.
Nyla Husain (Ph.D. 2020) is currently finishing a postdoc at UMass Boston. Nyla was selected to be a 2022 John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellow. She is moving to Washington, D.C., to spend a year learning and shaping marine and coastal policy development
Anna Ruth Robuck (Ph.D. 2020) is a research fellow at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City.
Stephanie I. Anderson (Ph.D. 2021) is now a Simons Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow at Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Maggie A. Heinichen (M.S. 2021) is now working at NOAA NEFSC Fishery Monitoring and Research Division.
Samuel Katz (M.S. 2021), a current Ph.D. student at GSO, was on board R/V Endeavor in the winter of 2020, sampling sediments and water in the equatorial Atlantic, when the COVID pandemic began. When he returned in March, most people were working off campus.
While remaining in R.I., Joe Langan (Ph.D. 2021) remotely started a postdoc at University of Alaska at Fairbanks working with Curry Cunningham (UAF) and Jordan Watson (Alaska Fisheries Science Center). Joe’s task will be to use machine learning to develop distribution models of sockeye, pink, and chum salmon in the high seas with an existing dataset that can be constantly updated with sea-surface temperature and other oceanographic measurements.
Afonso Gonçalves Neto (Ph.D. 2021) is a post-doctoral researcher at Federal University of Santa Catarina in Brazil.
Nina R. Santos (M.S. 2021) is a graduate research assistant at the University of Maryland.
Angela Stahl (M.O. 2021) is a research associate at Louisiana State University.
In Memoriam
Michael Ball
On August 15, 2021, Michael (62), a former GSO employee, passed away at home. Michael worked at GSO Shipping and Receiving from January 2005 until his retirement in 2017. Previously, he worked on main campus for 38 years.
Many remember his caring, humorous demeanor and the joyful spirit he brought with deliveries. He distributed all the mail to the boxes in Horn, delivered packages to offices and labs, and assisted with countless furniture moves. No matter the task at hand nor the weather (such as gas cylinder deliveries via open forklift in a Nor’Easter), he ended every encounter with a cheerful grin and his trademark—“Toodles!” He was also a good baker who loved to share his dessert creations. Originally from South Providence, he lived in Bristol when he worked at GSO. It was a long bus ride, but he said it was worth it. Art Spivack and Jeremy Collie were RIPTA riders with Michael and kept in contact after he retired.
In Michael’s memory, Art suggests making a donation to Meals On Wheels of Rhode Island. Art recounts Michael often said he thought of GSO as his family. Based on the outpouring of remarks about him, Michael improved the GSO community.
Edward Joseph Chesney Jr.
(Ph.D. 1984)
On August 9, 2021, Edward passed away in Houma, La., a year after a diagnosis of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). His wish was to be remembered for “his good 70 years of life” and not his cause of death.
Ed discovered the ocean during a college field trip to Woods Hole and after college, returned there to work as a research assistant. Ed then landed at GSO after being told he would need a doctorate for a career in marine science. Ed was a student of H. Perry Jefferies but did much of his dissertation research at Skidaway Institute of Oceanography in Savannah, Ga., working with Kenneth R. Tenore. Ed’s 1984 Ph.D. dissertation was on the population dynamics, secondary production, and energetics of the polychaete, Capitella capitate. Ed moved to the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory in Solomons, Md., to work as a post-doctoral researcher with Ed Houde on striped bass. In 1987, Ed joined the faculty at the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium (LUMCON) in Cocodrie, La., where he led a fisheries and aquaculture research program that specialized in spawning and culturing of species that are critically important but difficult to culture. He retired in 2018. Working with fish was Ed’s research and his favorite pastime was fishing, and he taught both skills to students and colleagues.
Condolences can be sent to Ed’s wife Wendy at 117 Glenhill Drive, Houma, LA 70363. Donations can be made to the Team Gleason Foundation or the ALS Foundation.
Van Chisholm
On September 25, 2021, Van passed away. From 1978 to 1992, He was part of Robert (Bob) Duce’s research group, first as a secretary, and then as the operations coordinator of SEAREX, a large, multi-million dollar NSF atmospheric chemistry grant in the Pacific. When Bob became GSO’s Dean, Van moved to the Dean’s office as operations coordinator for the Bay Campus.
He moved with Bob again, this time to Texas A&M, to fill a similar role.
Bob Duce noted: “Van was an absolutely amazing person. He was a can-do type of individual. He knew how to work with people and how to get things done, and he was a tremendous success at whatever he did.” Bob Gagosian, former Director of WHOI, said “You meet a lot of interesting people in life. I will never forget Van. His impact was special.” And Margaret Leinen, former GSO Dean and currently the Dean of Scripps Institute, said, “I had the highest regard for Van’s ability to make everything work for our science—whether the ‘everything’ was physical facilities in the field or lab, business transactions or thorny personnel problems.”
Remembrances can be posted at bit.ly/VanChisholmMemories. Condolences can be sent to his wife, Kathy Lamarque, who was a secretary at GSO for many years. Her address is 9234 East Grandview Street, Mesa, AZ 85207-4317.
Evelyn Whitford Dyer
On December 21, 2020, Evelyn (89) died peacefully at home. She was born on June 18, 1931. She had six children, nine grandchildren and nine great grandchildren with Rowland Brooks Dyer, Sr.
Evelyn enjoyed reading, knitting, quilting, square dancing and was an avid traveler. Evelyn worked at GSO for 30 years in the Horn building in the 1970s and 1980s, providing administrative and fiscal support in the days before SRGAs and when such staff were referred to as “secretaries.” She enjoyed working with the faculty, staff and particularly the students. Evelyn first worked for Perry Jeffries and later for Jim Quinn and Michael Pilson. Quinn remarked that “She was a great secretary and wonderful person” and Pilson noted “She was a superb secretary, and a fine person.” Joceline Boucher, a student of Pilson’s, noted that “Evelyn was most gracious and ever so kind to me. She had great patience, listening to so many stories of grad school travails!”
Donations can be made to VNA of Care New England Hospice, 51 Health Lane, Warwick, RI 02886. Condolences can be sent to her son, H. Garry Dyer at 13 Yawgoo Pond Road, West Kingston, RI 02892.
Laura C. French
On April 5, 2021, Laura (79) passed away peacefully at the HopeHealth Hulitar Hospice Center in Providence from complications of Parkinson’s Disease. Laura was born in 1942 in La Cumbre, Argentina. Her family moved to the United States when she was 13 and settled in Wickford, R.I. Laura attended North Kingstown High School and URI. She is survived by two nieces and two nephews.
Laura came to GSO in 1963 where she worked for more than 20 years. She started as a technical assistant in the GSO library working with librarian Nancy Coman. At that time, the library was one room in the Fish Building, opposite the main entrance. In October 1968 the Claiborne Pell Library for Ocean Sciences was completed and books, maps, etc., and staff moved there. It was noted that “Laura enjoyed lunchtime swims and volleyball at the Bay Campus. There were also student-led hikes to the White Mountains and Laura was very enthusiastic about those.” Laura joined in the 1972 swim to Dutch Island.
A service in her memory will be held at Westminster Unitarian Church in East Greenwich, R.I. in spring 2022.
Dolores A. (Ekno) Houde
On October 10, 2021, Dolores (89) passed peacefully, following a brief illness, with her family by her side. She was predeceased by her husband of 64 years, Earl Houde.
Dolores came to GSO in 1974 as one of two “keypunch operators” who performed all sorts of data entry for scientific and administrative data. Her title changed sometime during FY76 to data entry operator in what is now the GSO Computer Center. In early August 1987, she became a principal clerk typist in what is now Grant Management Support. Dolores retired from GSO in 1993. She also volunteered at GSO on the JASON project. Trained by IBM in the early days of computing as a data entry keypunch operator, Dolores worked with machines, such as the IBM 024, 056 and later the Univac 1710, which are now in the Computer Museum of America.
A Mass of Christian Burial was held on October 14. Condolences may be left at carpenterjenks.com. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in her memory to URI Graduate School of Oceanography.
James Tilghman Maughan
(Ph.D. 1986)
On September 30, 2021, James “Jamie” (72) passed away unexpectedly but peacefully. As his family wrote “The untimely loss of this amazing human-being has slammed and stunned us all. There is little comfort to be had, except to be in the company of our family and friends.” Toward that end, they held a Celebration of Jamie’s Life and Legacy on October 3 at his home
in Reading, Mass.
Born in 1949 and raised in Virginia, Jamie went to schools there for his undergraduate and masters degrees. Jamie had an atypical route to GSO, having first worked for a consulting firm. He was Candace Oviatt’s first official Ph.D. student and quickly became well-known and well-liked throughout the Marine Ecosystems Research Laboratory (MERL) facility and GSO. His 1986 dissertation was on the “Relationship between macrobenthic infauna and organic carbon.” After earning his Ph.D., Jamie returned to the New England environmental science consulting world, usually working on providing clean water to communities. Later, he taught graduate-level courses.
In retirement, Jamie offered to help GSO. On May 24, 2021 he was the speaker in GSO’s Student-Alum Seminar Series. The students learned a lot from Jamie’s experiences. He was at the Bay Campus on September 18, 2021 for Science Saturday and seemed fine, healthy, upbeat, and his usual friendly self.
Condolences can be sent to his wife, Emily Maughan, at 263 Woburn Street, Reading MA, 01867. He is also survived by son Matthew and daughter Edwina and their families.
George McNemer Schwartze
On August 21, 2021, George passed away at the HopeHealth Hulitar Center. He is remembered by many as a compassionate and gentle man, always smiling, with an excellent sense of humor and dedicated to his family and community. George was the husband of Susan (Hall) Schwartze.
A member of the GSO community for 34 years, George worked with former GSO Dean Bob Duce and professor Tom Rossby during the late 1970s through the 1980s, and retired in 2011. He was critically important to the success of the Oleander program. George was also responsible for developing and operating all the electrical and electronic components for the remote atmospheric sampling locations, during the 10-year SEAREX Program in the Pacific. In 1988, he published a peer-reviewed article on this system, called PASS (Portable Atmospheric Sampling System). This system was used by ten institutions to support chemical studies of the marine atmosphere in American Samoa, Enewetak Atoll, Oahu, and northern New Zealand, as well as on shipboard. There is no doubt that SEAREX would not have attained the many successes it had without George’s expertise.
Donations may be made in his memory to The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, 4550 Montgomery Ave, Suite 1100N, Bethesda, MD,20814.
Prentice K. Stout
Prentice passed away on January 11, 2021, the day after his 88th birthday. He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Margaret (Patty) Stout, two sons and their families.
Prentice worked for more than 20 years at GSO in the Marine Advisory Service and Office of Marine Programs (OMP) as a Marine Educator and helped to foster a period of important OMP expansion. From 1974 to 1995, his role as an educator covered science education, natural history and marine topics. He presented many lectures illustrated by his photography. He also served as past president of the National Marine Educator Education. Prentice was a true gentleman, a dapper dresser, a wonderful storyteller, an author and a photographer who spoke to thousands of students and teachers and helped them understand and appreciate the often-unseen worlds of the aquatic and marine environments. His entire life was devoted to teaching and writing about nature and filming. He highlightied the importance of creating a personal relationship with local natural places. For Prentice, that special place was Point Judith Pond. In 2000, Prentice was awarded the Distinguished Naturalist Award from the Rhode Island Natural History Survey.
Marsha E. Warren
On January 21, 2021, Marsha (69) passed away at Westerly Hospital from COPD and congestive heart failure. She is survived by her husband of 27 years, Wayne Warren (whom she met at GSO), her two children and six grandchildren.
Marsha joined GSO in 1988 as a senior clerk typist employed in the Fish Building and served for over 29 years. Marsha worked in several offices and was promoted to a Scientific Research Grant Assistant in 1999. As an SRGA, Marsha supported mostly biological oceanography faculty, marine scientists and their associated staff and students. Her research support included complex cruise aspects of expeditions from the Arctic to the Antarctic and George’s Bank in particular. Marsha was a credit to the GSO work ethic and exemplified the compassion within our community with her many personal acts of kindness and warm friendship to students, staff and faculty. She will be remembered not only for her unquestionable dedication to GSO, but for her welcoming demeanor, her generous smile and laughter, and the love of her family.
Condolences can be sent to Wayne at 35 Buckeye Brook Rd, Charlestown, RI 02813.
Patrick W. Zilly
On May 11, 2021 Patrick “Pat” (69) passed away suddenly. Pat was hired at GSO as grounds superintendent in 1987. He retired with the same title at the end of 2006.
Pat always had a smile and worked tirelessly to make GSO look its best. Pat had a vision for the campus as a relaxed and natural environment, and the campus reflects that vision today—a legacy to when Pat was caretaker of the campus lands and grounds. As a member of the maintenance crew, he was always there when needed at any time of the day, plowing roadways and parking lots in the middle of the night to make GSO accessible for the morning. He was a gentle giant (standing well over six feet), with the build of a football player and the constitution of a bear. At the same time, he conveyed the countenance of a very particular gardener, with an innate feel and appreciation of the delicacy and beauty of a flower. Pat left his indelible mark on the campus that will be appreciated for many years to come.
Donations in Pat’s memory may be made to the Narragansett Lions Club.