Patricia Fosness

First job 1966 - activity assistant at Columbus State Hospital on West Broad - a real Cuckoo's nest. Fascinating work, though and majored in psychology for awhile because I thought maybe I could make life better for those people. Then got all wrapped up in academia and changed major to geophysics, then philosophy & classics and in the end got a BFA from the Minneapolis College of Art & Design in 1975. Lived in Minneapolis from 1967 to 1986. Worked in the semiconductor research division of Honeywell for 12 years, ending up in program management. Awesome to be in that field back then! Did a lot of canoe camping in the North woods of Minnesota and Ontario. Moved to Colorado, traveled to the South Pacific (dream vacation - yes, Bali Hai did exist), the division where I worked closed and I completed an MBA in finance at the University of Denver in 1990. Volunteer gig for several years at the Denver Victims Service Center working with crime victims. Several jobs - was a finance manager at US West when it merged with Qwest and stayed with them for 5 years. Tired of the corporate rat race so went to Denver Museum of Nature & Science - an interesting place to work and retire in 2014. Skied and hiked in the Rockies a lot but am not up to skiing the way I used to -(black diamonds) anymore. Started painting again at the Denver Art Students League. Was a Long Term Care Ombudsman for the State of Colorado for a few years - too heartbreaking. Finally bought a house in late 2008 after prices dropped and I decided it was time to settle down. My art hangs on the walls and I can put up something new whenever I want - like living in a gallery!

My fondest memories are going to football games - set me up to be a football fan (Ohio State, Minnesota Vkings and Denver Broncos) for the rest of my life. Some memorable school dances, too. Academics - well, I goofed off most of the time but finally took an economics class that I loved in my senior year and made the honor roll - that teacher - alas I forget her name - made a huge, positive change in my life. I did a bunch of volunteer stuff when I was in high school at the Columbus School for the Blind, Hannah Neil Mission and a nursing home but no one at UAHS knew about that tender side of my life. Back in the day, I was a little out there but by today's standards, I was really pretty dull. LOL :)