Today's Featured Biography

 
Patrick Shannon

I write this in January 2025. Immediately after Graduation I enrolled at the University of MN. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with my life but college was what I thought would get me there. Girlfriend and I both went to college at the University of MN. I studied speech-communication which was what I thought was close to my love of electronics and the medium related to it. No so much the speech part. No way was I going to work as a DJ or such. In those days you had to pick a major and that was close to what ultimately became my passion and life's work. More on that later. During High School I was very shy. As such, I did not participate in after school activities which even to this day I wish I had. I was a commuter college kid too so I at least was consistent in my non-connectedness. What I did do after school was work at the old Country Club Market on 66th and Penn. There I saved my money for College. This is where I met a girl who was a cashier and I a carry-out boy. Our first interaction was her watching me chase a can of cat food that I dropped. Our friendship slowly developed into a relationship. Upon graduation, I was faced with a college degree and no marketable skills. At this time, my girlfriend (same girl) suggested that I enroll in an Electronics program at Northwestern Electronic School (NEI) on 38th and Hiawatha in Minneapolis. I did. This was my/her best decision ever. Finally, I would be the guy who was referred to on the back of the TV set that said "Do not open. Only qualified persons should service this equipment". Wow. So I graduated from NEI in April 1978. My relationsip with the 'cat food' girl lasted 7 years when I/we finally married in 1976. Before graduation from NEI, late in the course, I was recruited by Honeywell to be a Research Technician working with the newly invented Microprocessors and associated software. How exciting. That job morphed into work in the Honeywell Avionics division. There, I started as a Technical Writer advancing through the ranks learning about and documenting complex aircraft electronics. I loved that work. The last 10 years of my 38 years at Honeywell was in the Commercial Avionics Division. There, I was a Systems Engineer working on the design team for a next generation GPS based system used to guide aircraft to the runway using GPS alone. I travelled the world in that job installing the system and training foreign student technicians on the operation and maintenance of the system. I retired in 2016. I wish I could thank our electronics teacher Mr. Wheaton who at RHS taught us boys (why were there no girls?) the details of how electrons work for humanity. He was quite a guy. Each day, before we could get to the hands-on work, he would lecture us on the ways of the world. Why? Captive audience? Shaping the young minds of the day? Who knows. But, he planted the seed for me that would take me all the way. So we lived in Minneapolis for a long time. 7 years on 38th ave, 3 years on Elliot ave, and finally 37 years on Newton Ave. We have 3 children Dennis 1979, Julie 1981, and Cara 1983. Two grandchildren in Florida and one here in St. Louis Park. All three children are sucessful and independent. Julie even followed in old dads footsteps. She is an Engineer with Boeing Aerospace based in St. Louis and from her home in Florida. Dennis a Social Worker working with mental illness patients, Cara a Corporate Treasurer at a major commercial insurance agency. So what about today? Now, I have returned to the ole sod, Richfield. Or is that the streambed where the Salmon started his journey to fatten in the sea and return to the headwater? Full circle. We live across the street from Wood Lake Nature Center. I pass by old RHS on occasion and marvel at what I remember about the place. We were so blessed to live in a new city/village - to have a new school. To have many many kids as friends. We lived in a safe and welcoming community. I did not know at the time how wonderful it all was. One thing I have learned from this site is all the incredible things my classmates have accomplished in life. Sometimes I think about myself as a little C student in Richfield who defied the odds and made a wonderful life! Thanks to Jan Hamilton for making this site possible! Thanks also for the wonderful 51 year reunion where I sort of jumped out of my still a bit shy shell. Maybe I will see some of you on the trail at Wood Lake? Best wishes to all and thanks for the memories!

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