Obituary of Joseph D. Colgan

Joseph Dennis Colgan passed December 13, 2015 after a brief battle with CLL. Joseph was born Nov 18, 1929 to Joseph S Colgan and Helen Sheridan in Brooklyn, New York. He grew up in Richmond Hill/South Ozone Park, graduated from Bishop Loughlin High School, received a Chemical Engineering degree from The Polytechnic Institute in of Brooklyn in 1951 and an MBA from NYU in 1964. In 1971 he married Emily Wassmer who passed in 2001. He was also predeceased by his parents, twin brother George and sisters Frances Seward and Helen Lynch. He is survived by his brother Jack and many nieces and nephews. After discharge from the US Army in 1955, Joe joined the American Cyanamid Company where he remained for over 42 years engaged primarily in the development and manufacture of refinery catalysts. Joe often said that he was blessed to have lived a long life, to have had a wife who was a saint and to have remained employed doing work he enjoyed. While at Cyanamid he claimed to have met great coworkers at every location. His experience with the game of tennis, which he tried to learn, was similar. Every where he lived, he established friendships with other players.