Patricia J. Horrigan

Patricia Jane Horrigan passed away on October 18, 2012 at Bridges Cornell Heights where she had resided for the past two years. Patricia was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on April 12, 1928 and was the daughter of James and Frances (aka ‘Mac’) Hurley. Throughout her childhood she lived with her family in the Midwest settling in 1940 in Greensburg, PA and attending Seton Hill Academy. She went on to graduate, in 1950, from Pittsburgh’s Duquesne University with a BA degree in journalism and psychology. In August of that year she married her Duquesne sweetheart Jack Horrigan and moved to New York City where she worked for three years as a social worker with foster care children and families through New York Foundling while Jack attended grad school at Fordham University. Her job took her to the streets of New York where she would forever feel at home. New York’s social and cultural vitality made its mark on Pat who would spend the next half century of life immersed in music, art, poetry, literature, Great Books, theatre, travel, and learning at every turn. Pat and Jack would move to Westport, Connecticut in 1961 to raise their three children and reside for the next 41 years. In Westport Pat became active in the League of Women Voters and pursued and completed her Master of Education degree at Bridgeport University. In 1968, at the age of 40, she began a 23-year teaching career in the Trumbull Connecticut School System teaching 3rd and 6th grade Social Studies. Throughout her life Pat remained eager to learn and expand herself and took courses, travelled extensively and remained constantly engaged in the unfolding developments, careers and lives of her three children. New York City remained her cultural Mecca and the place to which she constantly returned for intellectual and cultural nourishment. In 2002, Pat and Jack moved to Ithaca, NY to be closer to their daughters and spent several happy years living in Cayuga Heights and enjoying all the Finger Lakes had to offer. Pat’s outgoing and sociable way coupled with her energy and enthusiasm for new ideas, experiences and interactions made her someone to whom others were drawn. Even in her final years, after chronic pain and dementia took hold, those who met her marveled at her outgoing way, her smile and her eagerness to listen, engage and connect to others. Predeceased by her father (1959), mother (1981), beloved sister Maureen Melino (2011), sister-in-law Lorraine Bielski (2004) and husband Jack of 58 years (2008), Pat leaves her son Jack Horrigan (Raspati) of Westport CT, and daughters Paula Horrigan (Scott Sears) of Trumansburg, NY and Alice Horrigan of Fairfield, CT; Grandchildren, Savitri and Krishna (Jack and Raspati), Madeline (Alice) and Mariah Fogarty-Sears (Scott and Paula), several brothers-in-law, numerous nieces, nephews and their children as well as one great- grandchild. The family extends much love and thanks to the staff and caregivers at Bridges who believed and performed the ‘miracle’ that made Pat’s final days ones of comfort, care, kindness, friendship, dignity and humanity. Pat will be remembered at a gathering to be held at Bridges Cornell Heights on Saturday November 3, 2012 at 3 pm and on December 1, 2012 at the Unitarian Church in Westport, CT. Donations may be made in Pat’s name to an educational, environmental, arts or cultural institution of your choosing.