Nathan Westfield
Raised on a farm in the Chestuee community of Polk County, Nathan Westfield’s journey has been shaped by service, hard work and family values. A 1975 graduate of Cleveland State Community College, Mr. Westfield served in the marines and later retired from a career at Bowater. Today, he serves the community through part-time work in campus security at Cleveland State.
Mr. Westfield attended College Hill School before transferring to Bradley Central High School. After graduating in 1965, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps; he and his six brothers all served in the military.
During his four years in the Marines, Mr. Westfield served six months in the Bay of Pigs crisis as well as three years with the National Security Agency in Fort Meade, Md.
While serving in the military, Sergeant Westfield married his childhood sweetheart, Brenda. They have been married for more than 58 years and raised two sons and three daughters. Continuing the legacy of service, both of his sons were army officers after attending West Point Military Academy and one daughter served in the U.S. Air Force. All five children earned bachelor’s degrees and four have gone on to earn master’s degrees.
The young family returned to Cleveland after military service, and Mr. Westfield worked at Magic Chef for 10 years. He started on the assembly line and quickly moved up to industrial engineer and production supervisor. He earned his associate degree in industrial management from Cleveland State while working full time at Magic Chef. He continued his education and earned a bachelor’s degree in industrial management from the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga in 1980.
“I am a strong supporter of Cleveland State,” Mr. Westfield said. “The college helped me understand where I stood in the world, education-wise, and what I needed to do to move forward. The instructors worked with me every step of the way – Mr. Newton, Mr. Cantrell, Ms. Davis – I can name them all.”
In 1979, Mr. Westfield transferred to Bowater Paper. For the next 28 years, he worked for the company starting as a utility man moving to the #5 paper machine and working his way up to Human Resources and then Security and Facility Manager.
“God has blessed me with talents. I never would accept where I was; I had to learn the next job, and I figured I could learn it faster than the next guy because I could visualize how things worked,” he said.
Along with raising a family and working full-time, Mr. Westfield and Brenda co-founded the Cleveland Express Track Club to inspire and guide local youth. Mr. Westfield had been a world-class runner in the Marines. After a hamstring injury cut short his chance to qualify for the 1968 Olympics, he devoted himself to helping others recognize their own opportunities.
“Opportunities come by, if you’re not prepared, you won’t even know they passed you. I had an opportunity, and I had the ability, but I wasn’t ready. I want to help kids recognize their opportunities and be prepared for them," he said.