Born and Raised

He took an early interest in the outdoors and horticulture, entering flowers, pumpkins, and other vegetables in the youth division at the Spokane Interstate Fair. He raised chickens, ducks, and pheasants.

His father, Jack, was an air traffic controller until the PATCO strike of 1981, where Patrick made his newspaper debut in a photo supporting his father on the picket line. After that, his father and mother started a small landscaping business called Beauty and the Beast, and Patrick came along on many of the jobs after school and during the summers. His mother, Ellen, also maintained her job as a reference librarian, leading to the library being the second most likely place to find Patrick after school.

By high school the family moved to the West Plains, between Cheney and Medical Lake. Patrick attended Medical Lake High School and was in the first class of students allowed to participate in Running Start at Eastern Washington University. He majored in Computer Science with minors in Math and Physics. Just as he graduated the Dot Com bubble burst, creating a challenging labor market for a recent C.S. graduate. After some job applications, and financial planning discussions with his parents, he decided to continue his education at EWU, earning a master’s degree in Computer Science with a focus in Artificial Intelligence and Information Security.

Career

Patrick worked some part time jobs through college, as a page at the Medical Lake Library, IT Help Desk for Spokane School District 81, and as a lab manager at EWU. Once he graduated, he accepted a job offer from Battelle in Columbus OH helping secure the Department of Energy’s computer systems. Shortly after moving to Columbus and buying his first house, Battelle laid off the entire security group that he was working for. Suddenly finding himself as a recent graduate with little savings, a mortgage, and limited unemployment benefits in a new city, he scrambled for new opportunities. He was able to land a local shipping route driving materials around for the John Kerry campaign in Ohio. After the election, he found a contract assignment helping the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency update their database. None of these paid more than the unemployment, but they did help stretch his money a little further. Finally, with only one month of payment left in his account, a friend in the security field put in a reference for him in Dayton, Ohio supporting the Air Force Research Lab, developing and testing methods for protecting sensitive software systems from being reverse engineered if captured.

This career break changed everything for him, and introduced him to low level security and software vulnerability research. He was recruited to join a Florida based company called SI Government Solutions (that was subsequently acquired by Raytheon). They were starting their first satellite office just North of Washington D.C. in Maryland and invited him to be a Site Lead and start up their new office. Patrick learned a lot about running a lean and scrappy business in a highly competitive market. With the help of some other talented engineers at the company, the Maryland branch grew from just Patrick, to over 45 people.

In 2015 Washington state called him home, to be closer to his family again and as a place to start a family of his own. Patrick continued working remotely for Raytheon for a couple years, assisting with engineering recruitment. Eventually he wanted to get back to technical and project management work, and found an opportunity as Director of the Application Security team at GRIMM, providing security auditing and testing services to organizations such as financial institutions and non-profits.

Patrick retired in 2021, but still keeps his toe in the water through some consulting work, presently with Zetier, a Virginia based cyber security company. He also maintains his position as station Lt. of Spokane County Fire District Station 32, where he has embraced the opportunity to assist his West Plains community through fire and medical response. The two largest incidents he has been involved in were initial fire attack for the Babb Road fire that burned the town of Malden and most recently the Gray Road fire that burned portions of Medical Lake.

Family

Patrick met his future wife, Laurie, while at a blues bar in Columbus. They were both there for the dancing, and Laurie was the first to welcome him to the local swing and blues dance community. They courted for seven years, before finally getting married at their home in Maryland. Laurie is a former Spanish Teacher and an artist, and the most compassionate and empathetic person Patrick has ever met. Together they have a seven year old daughter, Fiona. Fiona loves her chickens, camping in hand made shelters in the woods, and crafting homes and play equipment for her various toys.

Why politics?

I have lived a life with its ups and downs. I know the importance of hard work, education, and skill. I also know how quickly a poorly timed stroke of bad luck can derail everything, and how community and some responsible safety nets can help get things going again. I’ve never considered myself a politician. I’m an honest, hardworking family man that wants to see the best world possible for his family and community.

When I first told one of my friends that I was running he said, “You’d make a terrible politician, which is exactly why you’d be a great office holder.” I think there is some truth to that. I’m not here to be a career politician, I’m not in it because I have an ax to grind. I’m not here because I want to run my opponent through the mud. They have done fine, but I think it is time for an active listener for you, the people, not large companies, not just voting down a party line, but actively bringing and advancing new legislation that reflects your needs, the needs of Eastern Washington.