- November 18, 2024
-
-
Loading
Loading
Juan E. Bostwick, P.E., stormwater engineer in the city of Palm Coast’s engineering & stormwater department, is Palm Coast’s newest U.S. citizen!
Bostwick, 42, originally from the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, was among 81 people from 30 different countries who received their U.S. citizenship April 25, during a Naturalization Swearing-In Ceremony at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office in Orlando.
“I’ve been living here so long now, and my daughter is a citizen,” Bostwick said. “It just felt right; it was time. I still love the Bahamas, but the United States is my home now. I am forever indebted and loyal to this country.”
Friends, family and colleagues who witnessed Bostwick taking the Oath of Allegiance to the United States included his mother, Margaret Bostwick, of Nassau, Bahamas; daughter Jazmine, 9, of Palm Coast; friend Tamara Cox, of Orlando; Palm Coast Engineering and Stormwater Director John Moden, and Palm Coast City Council Member Bill McGuire.
“I’m proud for him,” McGuire said. “It took a lot of work and stick-to-itiveness to go through the long process, and I’m proud of his efforts.”
Moden agreed, saying, “it is a very tough thing to do, but Juan has persevered, and everyone in the engineering and stormwater department has benefited from it.”
A native of Nassau, Bostwick attended the College of the Bahamas, then Morehouse College and Georgia Tech, in Atlanta, earning degrees in mechanical engineering, math and civil engineering. He worked at H.J. Russell & Co. in Atlanta on such projects as Olympic Stadium conversion to the Atlanta Braves Turner Field, Atlanta Hawks Phillips Arena and the Georgia World Congress Center expansion.
He started the immigration process in 1998, while living in Atlanta, but the process was slowed – for all applicants – because of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The final steps of being interviewed and taking tests related to American history and spoken and written English were completed over the past six months.
Bostwick joined the city of Palm Coast in 2003, as the city’s first development review engineer. When the city took on drainage functions from Palm Coast Community Service Corp. in 2005, the engineering and stormwater department was formed, and Bostwick became the city’s stormwater engineer.
Outside work, he is a regular at the Palm Harbor Golf Club, attends Parkview Baptist Church and enjoys traveling and baking. As a single parent, Bostwick said his number one priority in life, after God, is raising his daughter.
After receiving his U.S. citizenship, his next steps are to get a new passport and register to vote. Bostwick’s first time voting as a U.S. citizen will be the Palm Coast primary in August.
