Clarence Patrick Westover

Clarence Patrick Westover

AGE: 85 •

Clarence Patrick Westover (1929-2015), Big Blue (that's the NY Giants for you non-NFLers) has lost one of its biggest fans. Clarence Patrick Westover, known to everyone as Pat, passed away on March 17, 2015, in Holmdel, NJ, at the age of 85, from complications of pneumonia. He passed just a few months shy of celebrating his fifty-fifth wedding anniversary to his beautiful bride, Theresa Allen Westover, of Bayonne, NJ. Pat was born in Queens, NY on Nov. 9, 1929, to Clarence and Catherine Westover. His sister, Catherine Ellen Jane was born five years later in 1934, but predeceased him in October 2014. Pat grew up in Oceanside, NY, but after getting married to Theresa, he spent most of the rest of his years in Matawan (now Aberdeen), NJ. Pat served in the Army from 1951 to 1953, and then in the Army Reserve until 1957, when he was honorably discharged. While in the service during the Korean war, Pat was stationed in Germany. He amassed an entertaining set of photographs from his service-related travels throughout Europe that will continue to amuse his family for years to come. Pat was always a sports fanatic. He was a varsity member of his high school basketball team, and loved the New York Yankees, but his true obsession was his allegiance to the New York Football Giants. Pat was a season ticket holder for over 50 years, and was able to attend three of their four Super Bowls. Pat passed on his love of sports to his children, and served as an umpire for their Little League and softball teams. Higher education was always of paramount importance to Pat. He received his Bachelor of Business Administration from St. John's University, NY. He earned his Master of Business Administration from New York University in 1962. In 1984, Pat received his Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) from Rutgers University's Graduate School of Education, one of the highlights of his life. The majority of Pat's career was spent working for AT&T (including several of its former iterations), which meant that the Westover family always had the latest version of the newest telephone sets, including one of the first-ever push-buttons phones. Pat and Theresa were parishioners of St. Joseph Catholic Church, Keyport, in the 1960s, and later joined St. Benedict Catholic Church, Holmdel, in the 1970s. Pat was highly involved with St. Benedict's church and served as a lay minister for many years. Pat's life was focused on his family. Annual vacations usually involved packing up the family station wagon with Pat, Terry, Terry's mother, Hazel, the four children, and often the family dog, Fritz, and driving to fun places all over the east coast. Pat was a loving and faithful husband, father, grandfather, and friend to all. Pat also became a hunting aficionado, joining his close friends for annual trips to a Pennsylvania cabin where the family always presumed there was more partying than hunting going on, because (to his children's delight), Pat never bagged a deer.

Pat is survived by his beloved wife of almost 55 years, Theresa, his son Dr. Thomas Westover (and his wife, Dr. Betsey Corral Westover and their three children, Corey, Zachary, and Hannah), his daughter Susan Westover-Giali (and her husband Dale Giali), his daughter Karen Westover Black (and her husband Nelson Black and their two children, Thomas and Travis), and his devoted son John Westover who spent the last several years committed to the caretaking of Pat and Terry. His sister Ellen Jane Standard pre-deceased him in October 2014. Pat is also survived by many loving cousins and nieces and nephews.

A funeral Mass will be held at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Keyport, New Jersey on Saturday April 25, 2015, at 11am. Interment will take place in a private family service at the Brigadier General William C. Doyle Memorial Cemetery in Wrightstown, NJ. Instead of flowers, memorial donations may be made in Pat's name to the Alzheimer's Association (www.alz.org). Or even more simply, please consider doing an unexpected and unsolicited act of kindness for someone less fortunate in Pat's name.