Meet Admiral Christopher Colvin, one of our honorees on Sept. 12

Admiral Colvin grew up right around the corner from the History Center at West 6th and Walnut streets. He later moved to Seminole Drive where he counted Fritz Curtze among his best friends, according to an oral history conducted by the History Center.

He is one of four children born to Dr. Charles R. Colvin and Evelyn (Meldon) Colvin, and his paternal grandparents owned the former Colvin Dairy in Erie. He recalled that kids of that era road bikes everywhere and especially down to the  foot of Cascade where they could climb aboard the Niagara, "a hulk of a frame of the ship ... anybody could go on board," he said.   

He loved to sail and later graduated from the University of North Carolina and then enlisted in Coast Guard Officer Candidate Schoolto learn more about sailing and navigating. He entered officer candidate school and later commanded the Dallas during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003 for six months of combat operations alongside Navy carrier strike groups. He later earned a master's degree in National Security and Strategic Studies from the Naval War College.

Under his command, the vessel executed critical maritime protection and humanitarian missions. Following these successful operational tours, Colvin was promoted to Flag rank (Rear Admiral) in 2007, later serving as the Commander of the Seventeenth Coast Guard District in Alaska and as the Deputy Commander of Coast Guard Pacific Area.

He was awarded the Defense Superior Service Medal and multiple awards of the Legion of Merit before retiring in 2012. He is married and the father of two children.