Pat was slight of build but muscular and strong and light on his feet.  He could walk the rafters like a cat.  He ate like a horse but maintained the same weight most of his life.  Pat was a good cook.  His pecan pies were delicious and his homemade fudge was the best!  He made it the old-fashioned way; using Hershey's Cocoa and cooking it on the stove.  He and I ate a whole batch once, laughing when our spoons clashed as we scraped the crumbs from the saucepan.  Pat had a great laugh.  He loved to eat and cook the dishes that our Mother made for us growing up.  One of his favorites was liver and onions.  He made cinnamon toast often and one of his snacks was our family's version of Oreos - vanilla wafers with buttercream icing in the middle.

In 1969 at age 19, he joined the Air Force Reserves.  Pat had a physician's letter stating that he was deaf in one ear, he couldn't hear high notes which disqualified him.  But the Vietnam War was at its height and the military needed bodies.  The Sergeant told him to "Get on the bus, it's the only way you're leaving."  Pat tried to tell him that he had failed the test but the Sergeant repeated "I'll tell you again, get on the bus, it's the only way you are leaving here."  So Pat got on the bus.  He went to Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas for his basic training.  "It was fun.  Helluva damn place.  We worked hard and I was always hungry, but the meals were all you can eat and I took full advantage of it.  I gained 45 lbs. in 12 weeks! It was all muscle, too."  He was a Fire Protection Specialist Honor Graduate.  The Dallas/Ft. Worth International Airport which opened in 1973 was recruiting honor graduates to work there as firefighters.  They offered Pat a very good position but he said "My girlfriend, my parents, and my home are in Alabama.  I'm going home."

Pat graduated from Jefferson State Community College in 1972 with degrees in Business Administration and Computer Science.  He was often on the Dean's List.  When the Dean handed him his diploma, he told Pat, "You know this degree is already obsolete.  Apple just came out with a new computer."  Pat continued his studies at UAB for the next four years.  Pat was working with Chris and took off early to register for his final semester.  He could tell the counselor was in a bad mood.  It was late in the day and she was grumpy.  She asked Pat why he was so happy and cheerful.  He told her he and his brother had finished a difficult job, he had gotten off work early and had the rest of the day off, and overtime pay in his pocket.  The counselor said that it sounded like he was happy in his job.  He said I love it.  She asked him a few more questions about his work and advised him that if he was happy with the work and the pay to stay with it.  So he did and worked in construction the rest of his life, sometimes with his brothers, Steve, Chris, Denis and Mikey, but most often as an independent contractor.

Pat married the love of his life, Sherry Xan Alexander on March 3, 1973.  Sherry was employed at Southern Bell, Pat worked in the B.F. Goodrich warehouse in Pinson.  During 1980, Pat raced a '55 Chevy at the Talladega Short Track and the Brompton Dirt Track where he won 2nd place 7 or 8 times.  In 1980 Pat and Chris went to Fort Lauderdale looking for work, Chris was called back to Birmingham to work for Van Sant, Pat got a job with Palm Air Construction.  Sherry transferred to the Ft. Lauderdale office of Southern Bell six months later.  The pride and joy of their lives, their daughter, Trisha Sherry Mackinaw was born in Ft. Lauderdale on January 20, 1983.

It seems that Trisha inherited the ability to eat like her Dad.  One night Pat and Trisha made grilled cheese sandwiches:  butter one side of the bread, put it into the skillet which held two sandwiches, add the cheese, butter the other side, and cook each side to golden perfection, then eat it straight out of the  skillet, no need for plates.  This continued until each had consumed a loaf of bread.  Trisha continued the tradition, winning a chicken-wing eating competition against her opponent, a college student called "Tiny".  Trish ate him under the Hooters table, consuming 150 chicken wings and winning a $100 bet.

Pat will be greatly missed by Trisha and by his grandchildren, Isaac and Zoey; by his surviving siblings: Peggy, Anne, John, Mary, Tim, and Mikey and by his many nieces and nephews and friends.

I love you, Pat.  Rest in peace, brother.

Annemarie