Gonzaga gets more hometown support from the ‘fatheads’ at Rockwood Retirement

Patty Conaty is essentially a Gonzaga University alumna.

She already had a college degree and three teenagers at home when Conaty went back to the books in 1982 at Gonzaga, where she took two years of accounting classes before sitting for her CPA exam.

She has nothing but fond memories of her time on campus, even if she was a bit older than most of the students around her.

“The kids were so nice, they would say, ‘Hey, we’re going to Jack and Dan’s or the Bulldog on Friday night. Do you want to come along?’ ” Conaty recalls.

Today, Conaty still counts herself a Zags fan, watching and recording every basketball game.

This year, excitement for March Madness is coupled with some reprieve from the coronavirus pandemic.

Conaty, along with the majority of other residents at Rockwood Retirement, are vaccinated against COVID-19, meaning they can watch the game on Sunday together, albeit with gathering and safety measures in place. Conaty lives in one of the independent living apartment towers at Rockwood Retirement on the South Hill, which also has a neighborhood of homes, assisted living and memory care units.

To celebrate the Zags’ appearance at March Madness, the Rockwood Residents’ Foundation decided to do a “fatheads” fundraiser. Residents could donate and get their photo made into a life-size cardboard cutout. About 20 residents, three employees and three staff cutouts that line the main lobby at Rockwood as a “wall of fans.”

On Sunday, they will be placed in the theater at Rockwood in their own cheering section, along with residents watching the game.

The fundraiser garnered about $2,000 for the Residents’ Assistance Endowment Fund, which helps residents who outlive their finances through no fault of their own, enabling them to stay at Rockwood Retirement.

Throughout the pandemic, Conaty said she actually did not feel isolated because of the community around her at Rockwood and through the efforts of staff, doing fun things from parades to holiday activities.

This month, Conaty finally got to see family in person again, after she was fully vaccinated. She used to have her granddaughters over for sleepovers, she said, but the virus kept visitors out for a while.

Now, Conaty can see her family again, receiving two visitors at a time. She can host game nights with her friends who have also been vaccinated.

Basketball is one more sign that 2021 is turning out very different than 2020, and with Gonzaga in the tournament, which was canceled last year, Conaty said she and her friends are looking forward to it.

“I was looking forward to it, and people have talked about that,” she said. “This year for sure, they say, ‘Oh it’s so exciting we have basketball to watch,’ but last year, not so much.”

Conaty plans to watch Sunday’s game with a few friends, but as for the future of her fathead, which is in head-to-toe Gonzaga gear?

It might end up at a Thanksgiving dinner table in Seattle, where her kids are, if she can’t make it for future gatherings.

“I think any time I wouldn’t be able to get together, I might have to send it over to them,” she said.