Jay Costigan

Before he passed away on Dec. 9, Jay Costigan had a big impact on the Northwest College campus. Costigan worked in the security department as a campus security assistant. 

Among other duties, he was part of NWC’s incident command team, which laid out a path forward during the early part of the COVID-19 pandemic. Costigan’s coworkers say he truly cared about the people whose safety he was responsible for, which made the 52-year-old’s death from complications from COVID all the more sad.

“We will miss his commitment to Northwest College but more importantly we will miss his friendship, humor, and caring nature,” said NWC President Lisa Watson. 

Costigan started at NWC in 2005 as an adjunct professor and joined the security team a couple years later.

“He wanted to do everything he could to be sure the students and staff were safe,” said Joneen Costigan, Jay’s wife. 

Joneen is an adjunct instructor in the nursing department at NWC. She and Jay were married for 20 years, but, Joneen said, it “wasn’t long enough.” 

Lee Blackmore, the college’s interim residence and campus life director and Jay’s supervisor, said Jay approached his job with passion —  and he had an attention to detail that spoke to his dedication to his job. 

Whenever NWC was developing safety plans for the campus, it was Jay, Blackmore said, who would spot details everyone else missed.

“He was a straight shooter for sure,” Blackmore said. 

People always want to speak kindly of the dead, which leaves out the shortcomings we all have that make us human. 

Blackmore spoke fondly at Jay’s funeral service about Jay’s quirk. Jay was from Maine and worked in corrections as a shift supervisor and sergeant. He had that East Coast abrasiveness that conflicts with the personable, relaxed culture of Wyoming. 

With a laugh, Blackmore recounted how he would receive complaints from people when they first met Jay. However, without exception, Blackmore said every single person who complained would later take it back when they got to know Jay. It didn’t take long to get past his “crusty exterior” to the compassionate and genuine man beneath it.

“That’s just who Jay was,” Blackmore recalled. “But once people spent time with him, they’d see how much he cared, his compassion, and the dedication he had for the job.”

Watson said Costigan was one of the first people she met on campus. 

“He worked the evening shift and so he would check in on me late at night. He loved his work, was diligent, and cared about all of us, the employees and the students,” Watson said. “We are all very sad and wish the best for his family.”

Joneen said that, in his free time, her late husband enjoyed rock collecting, video games and building things with Legos. Most of all, he loved his three sons, daughter and three grandchildren. 

“He would do anything for anybody,” Joneen said, “and he didn’t expect anything in return.”