Patrick James "Pat" ALVERSON

1930 - 2020

ALVERSON, Patrick James "Pat" Patrick (Pat) James Alverson passed away in Venice, CA on the evening of Sunday, April 19, 2020 at the age of 89, just a month shy of his 90th birthday. Pat Alverson was born May 10, 1930 in Spokane, WA to Eva Susan Alverson (nee Merkosky) and Glen Dale Alverson. At the age of 19, he enlisted in the US Naval Reserve and served in the Korean War in the South Pacific. Following his service, he began a career as a "partsman" in energy and infrastructure that took him overseas at the young age of 22-years-old. For over a decade, he traveled extensively, living and working in Guam, Peru, Kashmir (Pakistan), and Saudi Arabia among other places. On a trip home to Spokane in the early 1960s, he met Regina Zappone on a blind date. They married on January 22, 1966. Soon after, the two traveled to Taiwan for Pat's work. Regina gave birth to their daughter Kathryn a year later. At the close of Pat's assignment in Taiwan, they returned to Spokane and had their second child, Patrick Jr. (Rick) in 1971. Over the next decade work brought Pat and his family across the continent, from Canada to Wyoming to Michigan, and finally Norristown, Pennsylvania where the family settled and Patrick worked on the construction of Limerick Nuclear Power Plant. He retired years later after a distinguished career. In 2015, he and Regina relocated to Los Angeles, CA to be near their daughter and her family. Pat was an avid golfer in his early years, a lifelong reader (particularly of James A. Michener and the morning newspaper, which he read front to back daily), and lover of music, from the Kingston Trio, Doris Day, Glenn Campbell, and Neil Diamond to the musical accompaniment during Spanish Mass at St. Mark's Church. The meticulous attention to detail and near photographic memory that helped him excel during his working years manifest in cherished routines during his retirement. He brought an elegance and seriousness to even the simplest of tasks and pleasures. Whether tending to the lawn, making a cup of hot cocoa, or settling in to watch the Lawrence Welk Show, as he did each evening, he completed each task with an unmatched thoughtfulness and scrupulousness. His curiosity and desire to see the world and dedication to his work was matched only by his abiding commitment to his family. He was a steady, strong, quiet presence that will be impossible to forget. Pat is survived by his wife, Regina (Gina) Theresa Alverson (nee Zappone); his children, Kathryn of Los Angeles, CA and Patrick Jr (Rick) of Richmond, VA; his granddaughter Simone Costey; and his brother John Alverson of Bismarck, ND. He will be interred at a future date at Holy Cross Cemetery, where his mother Eva Susan and the Zappone family lay at rest.