Obituary of Patrick M. McCole

Beloved husband, stepfather, son, brother and uncle; fabulous loyal friend and life of the party died peacefully on April 5 from colon cancer. Patrick was born to Frances Elizabeth Guise and Dennis Hugh McCole February 5, 1958 in Seattle, Washington. He was, however, a true Oregonian as his parents lived behind the bowling alley on N. Interstate Ave. in Portland where he was conceived. Patrick moved to Portland when he was 19. He attended Portland Community College and received his degree as a mechanical engineering technician in 1980. He then went on to the University of Portland and graduated as a mechanical engineer in 1983. Shortly thereafter he began his career with Freightliner/Daimler. He worked until December, 2011 when his health forced him to retire. Those are the bare bones of his story. What follows is a love letter from me to Patrick and all of you who made his what it was and better in the last 2-1/2 years. Patrick was the love of my life. Even after his diagnosis he was grateful for everything in his life. He loved his family; he loved his friends; he loved his job and co-workers. He felt that he had been very lucky and very blessed. He had no regrets. After his diagnosis we experienced an overwhelming outpouring of love, support and kindness. I want to thank each and everyone of you. It meant the world to Patrick. Family was important to Patrick. When he was younger his family took many road trips. They still tell the story of one trip to Wisconsin when Patrick was 19. The drinking age there was 18. His cousin took him barhopping; he had one of everything; and the next day everyone had to step around him (all 6'7") as he lay on the living room floor. Patrick is survived by his mother, Fran; sister and brother-in-law, Maureen and Rick; niece and her husband, Heather and Brian; and his nephew, Richard. His is also survived by his four step-daughters; Anna, Bethany, Francesca and Sara; a granddaughter, Brooklyn and his wife Patti. He had a special bond with his mother-in-law, Shirley. One of the things I most admired about Patrick was what a great, loyal friend he was. Once he was your friend he would do anything for you. This is best displayed by a core group of friends he had known for 25 - 30 years. This group was his rock during his illness. Together they went skiing, houseboating at Shasta, to the races at PIR, to Beavers games, celebrated the 4th of July in pyro style, went to Italy and Lake Tahoe and just hung out. Patrick was smart, funny, witty and a joy to be around. He really was the life of the party. He was also kind and generous. Part of that kindness was that Patrick never knew a stranger. If you were within 5 feet of him he would introduce himself, extend his hand and wanted to know all about you. Patrick lived life to the fullest. He was passionate about many things. That brings us to golf. Patrick loved it. One of the reasons why was that he felt closest to God in nature. He appreciated the beauty of the courses, but most of all he treasured his golf buddies and all the shenanigans they got up to on the golf course. You know who you are! We tried to golf whenever we travelled. My job was to flag down the drink cart and round down the score (No, honey, I am sure that was a four, not a five - not really, he would not let me do that). His job was to make friends with the new golfers and enjoy himself. Which he did. We still have contact with some of those golfers. Patrick golfed until the very end. In fact, in February we took a trip to Tahiti. Not only was he able to scuba dive and snorkel, he golfed south of the equator in Moorea and three more times on the islands of Hawaii. I especially want to thank John Keltner who took Patrick golfing a few days before he went into the hospital for the last time. Patrick was also passionate about cars, in particular classic cars and racing. He spent many a weekend at PIR with his friends enjoying the racing. His 1965 Impala SS was his baby. That brought us to join the Fords of the Fifties car club. Even though he was a chevy guy they received us with open arms. It was all about the love of cars. We had so many good times with these friends. Cruise-ins, the Portland Roadster Show, the swap meet, weekend and day car trips. His favorite was the car show in Crescent City. This always lead us to spending time in his beloved redwoods and the Avenue of the Giants. And then there was Lucky Dog. The passion went both ways. I wanted a dog and to please me we went to the Humane Society. There we found Lucky; bedraggled, sick and skinny. I actually chose him, but for Lucky it was love first sight with Patrick (somewhat like me!). We called him the "trailer", because he followed Patrick everywhere. If Patrick moved, Lucky moved. We were able to take Lucky to the hospital to visit which was wonderful. Today Lucky is healthy, beautiful and the funniest, sweetest dog much due to Patrick's kindness. Lucky still hides food under the cushions...just ask Bethany about the pizza under her pillow. He was a hobo dog for a while and never got over worrying about where his next meal was coming from so her "saved for later". When Patrick found out he was ill he decided to live life to the hilt while keeping our daily life as normal as possible. We always valued experiences over things. He developed a "bucket list" that included rafting down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon, seeing Alaska, going to see a partially excavated ruin at Coba in Mexico, golfing below the equator, scuba diving and snorkeling. With the help of his family and friends he was able to do all that was on his list. Thank you for that. What I find most incredible in the last few years was the grace with which Patrick dealt with his illness. He never complained or questioned why this was happening to him. Instead he was concerned about how all this was affecting others in his life. He was always thinking about the needs of others. In fact in his last days he talked about wanting his memorial to be a joyous celebration and gave me quite a list of things to do for the people in his life. If there is any silver lining to this, it is that Patrick was able to tell his family and friends how much he cared for and loved them and that he was able to do the things that he wanted. Patrick was at peace when he died. He believed in a higher power and that he was going to a better place. I want to again thank everyone who showered us with love, kindness, care and support. I truly believe that played a great part in Patrick's peacefulness. Patti McCole Memorial Contributions to Multnomah Hot Rod Council High School Challenge Scholarship Fund at PO box 55067, Portland OR 97238 and Children's Cancer Association of Portland http://www.joyrx.org/. Service Information