Episode 69: Jeff Gilfoy, Den 1965

 

Jeff and Pamela Gilfoy

Jeff Gilfoy

Jeff Gilfoy came to Mowglis in 1962 and graduated from the Den in 1965  

Living at the time in Needham, MA and Jeff and his dad went to a Mowglis presentation, probably by then-director John Adams. He was enthused by what he saw and signed up immediately. The following summer he beganis Mowglis years in Toomai when it was the second youngest dorm in the pack.

Den 1965:  Jim Edwards, Sam Bettle, Jon Feuer, Worthy Johnson, Robert O’connor, Scott Gibbs, Sam Hertzler, Chris Howard, Jeff Gilfoy, Chris Spindler, John Ross, & Dave Beall

Listen here:

https://feeds.podetize.com/4DNfyV5HF.mp3

Jeff was a very successful camper, as a Denite he played against Worthy Johnson in Tennis finals, he prevailed though he says Worthy was a much better tennis player. With Tennis or any other game there are always days when lightning strikes and the weaker competitor wins, this was one of those cases says Jeff.

Pemigewasset Wilderness Trip was a favorite of his along with his two years on the Washington Squad.He made  Inner Circle in his Panther year and was one of those rare campers who was chosen twice for both the Red Racing crew (his second as stroke) and two years on Washington Squad. His love for hiking led him to pursue the sport during his life including a clim to the summit of Mt.Ranier in Washington state.

He spent one year as a member of the Jr. Staff, ending his Mowglis career. After college in Boston, Jeff did a stint at Coopers and Lybrand in the Boston area following which he moved west. During a visit back in the Boston area he was recruited by a Navy recruiter and discovered that he had a real aptitude for several of the especially areas within the Navy and shortly thereafter he began submarine sonar school and was soon in the Navy where he had a 21 year career, rising to the level of Master Chief as a sonar operator.

An accident aboard the Submarine, deploying a towed array, put him in the hospital but after months of rehab he was back at it.   

Today he lives in Florida with his wife Pamela and remembers his Mowglis experience very fondly as very formative.