Pat Scolieri

EULOGY FOR PAT SCOLIERI
Prepared By: Deborah Scolieri Harrison

Good Morning. Thank you for coming to Pat's service. He would be blown away by the outpouring of love that is being exhibited here today for him.

Thank you Carla for making the long drive to be with him, for holding his hand as he passed from this world, for organizing this service, and for taking care of his last wishes.

Thanks to all of the family who offered to help out in any way that they could. Grandma would be so proud of all of us.

For those of you who don't know me, I am Pat's sister Carm's daughter, Deborah.

Studies have shown, surprisingly, that people, if given the chance, of public speaking or death they would choose death. They view it as being that difficult, but this isn't hard at all because it is so easy to talk about such an outstanding man that touched so many lives in such positive ways.

He was always someone we could count on. He was our rock.

We come together today to celebrate Pat's life. Yes, we mourn our loss. We will never again hear his voice or his infectious laugh that was like no other, but we will forever have wonderful memories of this strong man. So many memories tell of what an amazing, loving and thoughtful man that he was.

Never once did he say an unkind word about anyone. He always wore a smile and frequently that same blue and white shirt. Just kidding, but it was in a lot of our family pictures. He must have worn it on his travels. Carla has him wearing it now for his final journey.

Never one to shy away from taking on daunting tasks, he thought nothing of traveling near or far to help anyone in need. He would fly back to Pittsburgh to spend time with his older sister Carm at least once a year. In fact, he is the only one that has his own room in mom's house. None of her children have their own room and I am not quite sure if dad did.

He was a talented man. He was one of the members of the world famous Scolieri Brothers Trio Traveling Band, along with his brothers Mike and Tony. CD's will be available shortly.

Seriously, his compassion for those around him compelled him to action.

He was a dedicated man. He was dedicated to the Lord. He never missed Mass. I was lucky enough to witness the sheer joy on his face when he received Holy Communion.

He was dedicated to his family. He was devoted to his lovely wife Kay, his remarkable parents, sisters and brothers, nieces and nephews, cousins and in-laws. All were of utmost importance to Pat. He attended weddings, graduations, baptisms, reunions and funerals. Whenever the need arose - from taking care of Kay and never leaving her side to playing the role of Santa at the family Christmas party - nothing was too hard for him. He willingly met any challenge. He never forgot our birthdays or the See's candy at Christmas. He sent over 200 boxes of candy. He shared our joys in the good times and helped us all through the bad times. He never ever was one to judge or criticize - just simply to support and love us. Who could ask for more than that?

His generosity was unsurpassed. He enjoyed being with the family and it was not unusual for him to occasionally pick up the check (and sometimes the waitress). Uncle Pat loved to flirt!

Uncle Mike, Uncle Tony and Uncle Pat would give the little ones a silver dollar when they would visit us in Pittsburgh. I only have one silver dollar left and when I look at it I am reminded of their visits and their kindness.

He was dedicated to his career in the electronics industry. One of his favorite things to do was to travel to Las Vegas to represent his company at the Comdex Convention. While there he would visit with his sister Palms, her husband Lou and their children, Bob, Jim, Jeanette and Paul have wonderful memories of his visits.

He was dedicated to his country, proudly serving in the United States Air Force.

He was dedicated to continuation of learning through his studies at college, his many travels with his wife Kay all over the world and always learning something new.

He was dedicated to his community in that he cared for the environment. He was kind, generous, caring and always the dependable fun-loving Pat. He attended the events they had and loved helping out in any way. Once again someone to count on and he counted on them as well. Thank you for that.

He was dedicated to his health by keeping active as an avid swimmer, bocce ball player and volunteering.

I thank God that we were blessed with Pat. The world that he inhabited is a little better because of the ways that he unselfishly gave to others. He is a hero, a true leader, teacher and caring individual. He is more than a brother or uncle. He is our best friend.

According to a gentleman that got on the plane in Las Vegas as mom and I traveled here, and I quote, "If you live to be 84 you've made it to the win column." Uncle Pat made it to the win column and because we knew Pat we are all in the win column.

God bless you Uncle Pat. May you rest in peace.