David M. Patrie, Sr.'s Obituary
David M. Patrie, Sr. passed from this life on April 1, 2026, at the age of 82 — and it is entirely fitting that a man renowned for his sense of humor took his leave on April Fools' Day. Dave knew how to live. He was curious about everything, afraid of very little, and never once content to fit inside a neat box. When asked what he wanted to do with his life, he'd grin and say, "I don't know what I want to be when I grow up." He never stopped meaning it, and the people who loved him never wanted him to.
Dave was born in Rumford, Maine, on January 30, 1944, and moved to Syracuse in his early childhood — you can take the boy out of Maine but not Maine from the boy. He spoke with deep fondness of summers on his grandfather's farm, working and playing alongside more than fifty first cousins, in that particular way that only large, sprawling families know: loud, rooted, and full of life. Every summer, he brought his own family back to Maine, and the first stop was always Kennebego Lake — the family fishing cabin, the still water in the early morning, the unhurried rhythm of a place that asked nothing of you but your attention. Kennebego was his happy place. In time, he would pass his love of fishing to his grandchildren the same way his family had passed it to him.
Dave graduated from St. John the Evangelist in Syracuse in 1962. After high school, Dave enrolled in seminary school in Kitchener, Ontario with every intention of becoming a priest. He was serious about his faith, and he remained so his entire life — though his theology was entirely his own. He believed in reincarnation alongside his Catholicism, and would say with complete sincerity, "God puts you back on this earth until you get it right." Nobody argued with him about it. Then, one summer home on break, Dave walked into E.W Edwards Department Store in Syracuse and met Joanne Farnett. She was, without question, the love of his life. That was the end of seminary. Dave went on to earn a degree in Political Science and Philosophy from LeMoyne College — a pairing that suited him perfectly. He was equal parts pragmatist and deep thinker, a man who could sell you something and then make you reconsider your assumptions about the universe in the same conversation. Dave and Joanne were married on March 1, 1969.
Dave built a career as a salesman and businessman. He was also a handyman — enthusiastic, capable, and unhurried. He single-handedly constructed a substantial addition on the family home. The first phase took longer than anyone anticipated. The second phase — well, the exterior is finished, and it's solid, and that tells you something about the man. He and Joanne raised three children: David, Michelle, and Daniel. Dave was present — genuinely, actively present — not just inside the walls of his own home but in his children's wider lives, at the edges of their friendships and adventures, the kind of father whose presence his kids' friends still remember.
As the family grew to include spouses and grandchildren, every new member was welcomed and loved as if they had always belonged. Because to Dave, they had.
His grandchildren remember his smile. They remember the way he could make a room laugh, the way his curiosity made ordinary things feel worth examining, the way his love had no conditions attached to it whatsoever. His nieces and nephews speak of how naturally he moved between his roles — Husband, Father, Father-in-Law, Uncle, Grandfather — as though none of them were roles at all, just different expressions of the same man. His children, and their friends, each carry their own favorite Big Dave story.
Dave believed in his community with the same conviction he brought to everything else. He was a longtime member of St. James Parish. He was part of The Valley Men's Club, earning its coveted Man of the Year award for his years of service and his dedication to the Valley Field Days. He coached Apple Valley League Baseball and Valley Youth Hockey, and he loved coaching with a particular telling passion. He loved the difficult kids more than the naturally talented ones. The gifted ones would find their way regardless. It was the ones who needed someone to believe in them first — those were the kids Dave went looking for. He had a gift for finding the good in people before they could find it in themselves, and he was patient enough to wait while they caught up.
In his later years, Dave began showing signs of dementia. After Joanne's passing in 2017, the decline accelerated, and he spent his final years in the loving care of the team at Loretto. Even then — even in failing health, even as memory loosened its grip — Dave was a favorite among the staff. The humor was still there as was the curiosity and the warmth that had defined him his entire life. Some things, it turns out, run deeper than memory.
Dave Patrie may have passed from this life, but he will live on in every story told about him — and there are many, and they are still being told. If you measure a life by the number of stories that survive it, and by the laughter and love inside those stories, then Dave passed having lived a complete and extraordinary life.
He was predeceased by his wife, Joanne; his parents, Alphonse Patrie and Estelle Hobson; his step-mother, Eleanor Patrie; and his sisters-in-law, Donna Patrie and Carmel Kenyon.
Dave is survived by his children: David (Amanda Breen), Michelle Peters (Daniel), and Daniel (Shannon); his grandchildren: Bruce, Shawn, Matthew, Colleen, Michael, and Camden; his brothers, Barry Patrie and Richard Hobson and sister-in-law, Fran Farnett, along with many nieces and nephews and by everyone fortunate enough to have known him.
Calling hours are Thursday, April 9, 2026, from 4:30 – 6:30 pm at the THOMAS J. PIRRO JR. FUNERAL HOME, 3401 Vickery Rd. (corner of Buckley Rd.) N. Syracuse, NY. A funeral Mass in celebration of David’s life will be held on Friday, April 10, 2026, at 10:30 am at Our Lady of Hope Church, 4585 South Salina St., Syracuse, NY.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Loretto Foundation at https://lorettocny.org/about-us/loretto-foundation/. David’s care team at Loretto are the real heroes.
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