Growing up in a Bristol family of 11 children (Jeff was 9th) can sure teach a fellow organization and discipline.

Jeff shared this about his family and upbringing:  “Some of the best memories of having a large family were the pace of the day – everybody running around and doing their own thing with my Mother keeping it operating as smoothly as humanly possible. She is the strongest woman I have ever met. We shared tasks based on a rotating schedule so that everyone took their turn doing that chore, in due course and depending on ability, and the good memories of my brothers and sisters are sometimes offset by the bad memories of times when it was my turn to do the dishes.”

All in all, those dynamics of a large family has a huge impact on his personality today. With so many different personalities interacting at one time, it helped him to understand and relate to the differences in others.           

“Even though we were all so different, we had one common denominator, our religion. It was something that each of us could rely on throughout our lives.” 

Even in the early days, Jeff’s interests centered on mechanical activities – his father worked on manufacturing springs in a Bristol factory – and his defining characteristics were his drive to do each job well and to fulfill the best interests of the family, the group or the company with which he worked.

In 1989, at the age of 18, after having taken many practical courses at Bristol High School, Jeff enlisted in the U.S. Navy and enjoyed the rate of EW (Electronic Warfare). He joined the Navy to see the world and did more than “see the sea.” His fondest memories were visiting Jerusalem and Bethlehem and experiencing, as he says, “the Bible on the ground,” and visiting the Island of Rhodes where on a five-day liberty he found himself “walking with history.”

In retrospect, he might have stayed and learned new skills, but, as a young man of 21 years, he decided to leave the service, move to Winsted because Bristol seemed to be too crowded, and after a brief stint at a local textile mill, joined Bauer, where for 18 years he has been ever since.

He started as a second-shift helper in the fabrication area and, with his mantra of doing each job well and welcoming challenges, he moved to the hydraulic department, then to shop floor leader, and on to his present responsibilities as Production Manager.

At 35 he found his life's companion, married Margaret (Peggy) and settled into family life back in Southington, and now again in his first hometown, Bristol, which he proceeded to crowd even more with the birth of his two children, Janet, now age 5, and Jeffrey, age 3.

In the next ten years, Jeff's vision is to get the shop running smoothly as it absorbs the manufacturing of new equipment and product lines, always doing what is best for the company. In the meantime, his children now have their own toolboxes and are carrying on the family mechanical tradition.