Dr. Patrick J Pagni

Dr. Patrick J Pagni, professor, scholar, and consultant passed away peacefully on February 1, 2026, at the age of 83.

Born in Chicago, Illinois to father Frank Pagni and Mother Helen (Boyle), earned a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and went on to teach at the University of California, Berkeley, for more than 30 years. An expert in fire science, he was widely respected for his research and scholarship. He was an excellent teacher and had the talent of explaining complex concepts in simple terms. This talent helped him to develop a very successful consulting career in fire litigation.

Professor Pagni received numerous awards for his research in fire science. Notable is the P.H. Thomas Silver Medal of Excellence from the international Association of Fire Safety Science. At UC Berkeley, he taught courses in thermodynamics, heat, transfer and combustion, and developed a particularly interesting course on the application of the fundamentals of fire to analyze actual fires, such as the Oakland Hills wildland fire, among others. He was very dedicated to his teaching, preparing well organized and clear lectures that the students loved. Through his career at Berkeley, he monitored numerous graduate student students, working on a variety of fire -related subjects.

Beyond academia, Professor Pagni enjoyed collecting old maps and coins from around the world, some of them quite rare. He loved good food and wine and enjoyed explaining to his guests the origin of the wines. His bottles with no labels wine testing were quite fun, and often with surprising results.

He is survived by his wife Feriel, children by his first wife Carol; Christina Buck (husband Scott), Catherine Low (husband George), Patrick Pagni Jr., step children Christopher Hanyk, Michael Hanyk (wife Tiffany), Anthony Hanyk, Angela Hanyk (husband John), as well as grandchildren Johnathan Pagni, Grace and Joseph Buck, Nathan and Caroline Low, great-grandchildren Archer, Avery and Atlas Levesque, granddaughter Lindsay Levesque (husband Nicholas), and a wide circle of colleagues, former students, and friends who will continue to carry his lessons forward.

Services to be held at St. Monica Catholic Church in Moraga California, on Tuesday February 17, 2026

Viewing: 9:30am

Funeral Mass 10:30am

Reception to follow mass

Burial:

Queen of Heaven Cemetery

1965 Reliez Valley Road,

Lafayette, Ca 94549

In lieu of flowers please donate to the Berkeley Engineering Fund at UC Berkeley

https://give.berkeley.edu/fund/FN3200000 If you have any pictures of Patrick that you would like to share, please send to the link: https://photos.app.goo.gl/ABS9Exyh5fcoJfhZ6