John Patrouch, PE
Senior Engineer
“A man practices the art of adventure when he breaks the chain of routine and renews his life through reading new books, traveling to new places, making new friends, taking up new hobbies, and adopting new viewpoints.” — Wilfred Peterson
Background
John was born and raised in New York City in Manhattan. He attended State University of New York (SUNY) at Geneseo, where he received his Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology. He went on to earn his Master of Science in Environmental Engineering from Washington State University.
John is a keen observer of people and behaviors — it’s likely why he has lived and worked in a variety of locations and fields.
In Olympia, John worked as a “green chain boy” while working with a logging outfit and later worked for a commercial oyster and clam bed operation. He worked for a time at IBM in Texas and worked on the 72nd floor of the World Trade Center in NYC. One of his favorite jobs includes a stint of time as an apartment manager in Pullman, Washington. Of course, he’s worked at several engineering firms too. Lucky for us, Varela is his latest social experiment.
John brings an incredible amount of knowledge to the Varela team and has over 40 years’ experience in planning, design, and project management of municipal, industrial, and commercial civil and environmental engineering projects all over Washington, Idaho, and Oregon.
John has significant skill as a project lead for stormwater, roads, drinking water, and wastewater systems. John is an invaluable mentor to our younger engineers. When there is a problem to solve, John usually has a story for it.
He is quick to laugh and even quicker to give his time to you. Without a doubt, John is an absolutely unique individual — which you will discover in the first five minutes of talking with him. His inclinations are to think outside the box and his diversity of experience gives him an innovative perspective when projects require creative solutions.
If you take a walk with John or go with him practically anywhere in Spokane, you will run into someone he knows and has a friendly word for. You should try it sometime.
Interests
John has a passion for water and is an avid kayaker and snorkeler. He enjoys mountain biking, cross-country skiing, traveling and camping in his Volkswagen van, and spending as much time outside as possible with his wife. John also regularly spends his time involved with local conservation and volunteer efforts for several outdoors organizations.
John makes a point to ride his e-bike to the office (about 16 miles each way).
He is a passionate reader and is able to offer great reading suggestions for just about any genre or topic.