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Patricia Beckenhaupt, former NDDH director of health
BROOKLYN — It is with great sadness that the Northeast District Department of Health
(NDDH) shares the news of the passing of former NDDH Director of Health Patricia
Beckenhaupt, RN, MPH, MS. Pat died Jan. 26, 2023, after a brief illness.
Pat served NDDH with distinction as Director of Health from 2000 to 2009. She was instrumental in expanding the role of NDDH emergency preparedness services following the events of September 11, 2001. She was an early advocate of tele-health services, leading an initiative in 2007 long before it would become a necessity during the COVID-19 pandemic.
That same year, as district services grew, she spearheaded agency relocation efforts to NDDH’s current location at 69 South Main Street in Brooklyn.
Pat provided strong leadership through a number of high-profile public health emergencies and events, including the InterRoyal Mill Fire in April 2005; a 2006 full scale Strategic National Stockpile exercise at Plainfield High School, conducted jointly by the State of Connecticut and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; and the 2009 H1N1 pandemic.
Pat successfully procured grants that provided indoor asthma assessments, oral health screenings, CPR-AED trainings, and breast health screenings, and increased community awareness to food-borne illness, green cleaning, obesity prevention, cardiovascular health, Lyme disease, and a host of other public health priorities. Working with her team, she created the NDDH logo and brand that we continue to promote today.
Pat leaves her husband Ken of 28 years; two daughters Laura (Michael Haluch) and Kathleen (Jeff Enger); a son Raymond (Aubrey) and seven grandchildren; her brother Kevin Cordle; sister-in-law Janice Nicholl and four nieces. She was predeceased by her mother and father, Mary and Edgar Cordle.
Pat’s career in health care is expansive where she emerged early on as a leader in nursing, graduating in 1968 from Mary Immaculate Hospital School of Nursing in Jamaica, Queens, New York. She went on to serve for 11 years as Assistant Vice President and Director of Emergency Medical Services at Johnson Memorial Hospital in Stafford Springs. That experience paved the way for her role as Director of Health for the Northeast District Department of Health in Brooklyn CT for nine years and then on to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta serving as a Public Health Analyst until her retirement in 2015.
Within a year of retirement Pat was back in the public health arena serving as an independent contractor for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health Immunization Program. Pat rounded out her career by serving as a COVID Case Investigator and Contact Tracer for Partners in Health – University of Connecticut stationed in Boston.
In addition to her nursing degree, Pat obtained a Master of Public Health degree from UConn and a Master of Science in Education from ECSU.
Donations: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, https://gift.whoi.edu/page/7738/donate/1?locale=en-US. Please select the button labeled “in honor or memory of” at the bottom of the page and include Pat’s name.
Justin H. Corttis
N. GROSVENORDALE — Justin H. Corttis, 33, died peacefully at home Feb. 13, 2023. He was born in 1989.
Justin grew up in Thompson, graduating from Tourtellotte Memorial High School where he excelled in sports and academics. Justin loved to run, be it on the track or the football field.
He also enjoyed being a founding member of “The Jungle”.
Upon graduation, Justin studied engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. While attending WPI, Justin was active in the fraternity, Lambda Chi Alpha where he was the social chair. In his spare time, Justin enjoyed spending time outside with his dog, Caesar, reading, cooking, and working out.
Justin leaves behind his father Herb Corttis of Thompson; and sister, Lydia Corttis of Oklahoma City, Okla.; and Caesar.
Visitation is from 4 to 8 p.m. Feb. 22 at Valade Funeral Home, 23 Main St., North Grosvenordale.
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