Paul McCloskey

1955 - 2023

McCloskey

Paul McCloskey

May 1, 1955 - June 20, 2023

Paul McCloskey, who as a journalist covered the rise of the Internet and its impact on the public sector and healthcare, died on June 20, 2023 in Vienna, Virginia. He was 68. He died following a struggle with Alzheimer's Disease. He faced the disease with courage and grace, in the same way he lived his life. No one who met Paul was ambivalent; you either loved him, liked him, or admired him. He was a smart, funny, charming guy who never did things half-way. He learned to play pool at a young age alongside his father and turned it into a life-long pursuit, with stops along the way in London to watch the Mosconi Cup, and at Pressure, his neighborhood pool hall in Chicago, to capture a surprise one-round win against world champion Mika Immonen. An interest in yoga took him to India for a four month so- journ studying with the guru K. Pattabhi Jois. To further his yoga practice, he enrolled in a year-long program of study at the Chicago School of Massage Therapy and mastered that art. Paul had a deep-rooted love of ad- venture, perhaps sparked by the experience of moving to Beirut, Lebanon as a 3-month- old and living in Karachi and Islamabad, Pakistan as a pre-teen, where his father's ca- reer at the Central Intelligence Agency had taken them. As an adult, Paul lived in New York City, Washington, DC, and Chicago and he traveled the world seeking new experiences and connections. He was a voracious reader and lover of music, building impres- sive and eclectic collections of books and al- bums/tapes/CDs. Paul was not a stranger to struggles, having beaten back the demons of alcohol addiction as a young adult, but he overcame even that challenge and turned it into an avenue for enduring friendships and a deeper understanding of living one day at a time. As a young man, he wanted to be a writer, and so after graduating from the University of Chicago with a BA in History, he went to New York and cold-called publish- ing houses until Harcourt Brace Jovanovich hired him as a reporter for one of its trade publications, leading to a life-long career as a journalist. Highlights of his career include assignments as editor-in-chief of Federal Computer Week, founding editor of Government Health IT, Civic.com, and finally editor-in-chief of GCN, which covers tech- nologies, tools, and tactics to support public sector IT managers. Paul Stewart McCloskey was born in Washington, DC on May 1, 1955 to John Donald and Helen Siebold McCloskey. Paul was predeceased by his parents and his brother John R. (Jack) McCloskey. He is survived by his partner Barbara Sheehan, Jack's widow, Carolyn McCloskey and her daughter Genivive Sandoval; Jack's children Kelly McCloskey-Romero and Daniel McCloskey; sister Kate Davis, her husband Jim and their daughters Christine (Chrissy) and Sara Davis; brother Peter Todd McCloskey and his children Emily and John McCloskey; sister Anne McCloskey and her sons Benjamin, Noah, and William Sweet; his former wife Barbara Faculjak; and many friends and colleagues. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Alzheimer's Association. A memorial celebration will be held on August 5, 2023 in Washington, DC. For information on the memorial and to RSVP go to: https://www.paperless- post.com/go/1BBezQ5S46jPRwCpmgXQ0