20 years ago, Patrick Bolan (KJ7ZSU) was working as a construction manager for Home Depot, and saw his 1st mechanical Geochron in a conference room. 10 years later, he bought an old Geochron that – Patrick discovered – he could not repair.
He took the clock to the only place in the world that still made Geochrons… just a mile from his house. He felt a moment of destiny, and told the retiring owners, “If you were ever interested in selling his company, I’d like to be a part of that conversation.”
He couldn’t afford their price, but offered his own house as collateral to purchase Geochron’s tools and inventory.
Today, the mechanical clock is built and restored in Colorado, and Patrick manages the Geochron Atlas product he created from the Pacific Northwest with a small team of local developers. Every Atlas is kitted in his basement.
Patrick has a talent for persistence. He’s a 2x Ironman triathlete, 2 graduate degrees, married 30 years, and recently finished a 23,000 mile motorcycle tour to visit 48 Geochron owners in 48 states.
And he’d like to install a ham rig on his motorcycle someday.
