Bobby Colburn

I was born in Boston on October 22, 1926. My father, David Atwood, was a Captain on cruise ships for a company in Philadelphia. I went through grammar school in Brooklawn N.J. and in 1937 we saw the red sky from the crash of the Hindenburg at Lakehurst.

The war changed everything, with my father on freighters and also as an inspector at an Alabama shipyard. As a result, I went to four different high schools -- New Jersey, Alabama, Massachusetts, and graduated in Connecticut.

When my parents divorced, we moved back to Massachusetts, and I went to work at WHOI. Commuting between Sandwich and Woods Hole for a time and then living at Challenger House with other single girls. When the Navy building was dedicated, we girls served as cocktail waitresses. There I met Dick Colburn, who was to become my husband. After eight years of working I retired in 1955. Later when the children were grown, I worked as a teller at Falmouth National in Woods Hole for several years, retiring from there in 1982.

My community work started with the Church Exchange -- then the Altar Guild where I am still involved. I am a member of the Woman's Club and the Historical collection, where I am now a Docent.

I love traveling and have been to Hawaii, England and four times to Scotland. Since my daughter Sue lives in Seattle, I get to take the train cross-country to visit. We also have two sons -- AD and David -- who have followed in the family tradition of grandfather and father. AD is now captain of the Atlantis as Dick was Captain of the original Atlantis. David has worked as a seaman for the Steam Ship Authority for quite a few years.