Patrick Joseph Haggerty Jr.

Dear Friends & Board Members,

     By now most of you have received the e-mail sent by Bernie about our dear friend and longtime board member passing away on February 6th. Pat served the Crime Commission for close to twenty years. He will be greatly missed. Many of us will try to attend his memorial mass which is scheduled for February 28th at 1:00 PM at Marry Star of the Sea Catholic church located in La Jolla, CA 7669 Gerard Ave. Please feel free to join us and family to celebrate his great legacy.

The Crime Commission will be sending a nice memorial wreath in his honor and some friends and members will be sending in checks to the Challenged Athletics Foundation "Operation Rebound" which directly benefits disable military personnel and first responders.  Checks can be made out to "CAF Operation Rebound" 9591 Wapler St. San Diego, CA 92121.

You may also turn your checks into me and I will pass them on as a Crime Commission group donation. Please send them to my address at 3538 University Ave. San Diego, CA 92104. Pat and his family will be in our hearts and memories for many years to come.

 Sincerely yours,

James Hill
Chairman S.D.C.C.C.

Obituary - La Jolla Light

Patrick Joseph Haggerty Jr., beloved father, husband, and grandfather, passed into Paradise on February 6, 2014, from natural causes related to advanced age. He had recently celebrated his 89th birthday.

Patrick (known by his friends as "Pat") was born in Holyoke, Massachusetts, and grew up in nearby South Hadley. Although an only child, his parents fostered another boy, Carl Richards, whom he considered to be his brother. At an early age, Pat was taken under the wing of Dr. Mary E. Woolley, the first female President of Mount Holyoke College. Dr. Woolley instilled in him the importance of higher education and making a difference in the lives of others.

Matriculating at the College of William and Mary in 1941, Pat's studies were interrupted by World War II. He rose to the rank of Second Lieutenant in the United States Army Air Corp, the precursor of the Air Force. After serving in England, France, Belgium, and Germany, he returned home at the war's end in 1945. Pat resumed his studies and graduated from William and Mary in 1949, where he was a star football player. He was drafted by the Washington Redskins, which he declined in order to advance his education. He pursued graduate studies at Springfield College in Massachusetts and entered the Federal Bureau of Investigation, assigned to the Espionage Squad in San Francisco during the Cold War years of the 1950s. Pat learned the Chinese dialects of Mandarin and Cantonese, enabling him to translate spy-related information. He became a familiar figure in the Chinatown district of San Francisco from 1952 to 1965. Eventually, he opened the resident agency of the F.B.I. in Santa Cruz. During his extraordinary career, Pat was awarded countless commendations from F.B.I. Directors J. Edgar Hoover, L. Patrick Gray and Clarence M. Kelley for his vital role in the security of the United States.

The heart of Pat's life, however, was his family. In 1952, he married the love of his life, Dottie Mae Fallgren Haggerty, at Mary, Star of the Sea Catholic Church in La Jolla. She predeceased him. Pat is survived by his elder son, Dr. Patrick J. "Rick" Haggerty III and his wife, Rosie; his younger son, Dr. Colin M. Haggerty and his wife, Cathleen; and his daughter, Dr. Holly Haggerty Sokolowski and her husband, Dr. Bernd Sokolowski. Pat also is survived by his beloved grandchildren, Patrick Haggerty IV, Kelly Haggerty, Sophia Sokolowski, Colin Haggerty Jr., Kyle Haggerty, Cameron Haggerty and Mary Haggerty.

Pat personified loyalty, fidelity and honor, and his extraordinary character and influence have truly made this world a better place.

The Haggerty/Sokolowski Family would like to acknowledge the wonderful care shown to Pat by the staff at Sunrise of La Jolla and the nurses and doctors of Scripps Hospice.

A Mass of the Resurrection and Memorial Service celebrating Pat's life on earth and the continuing journey of his soul in Heaven will take place on Friday, February 28, 2014, at 1:00 p.m. at Mary, Star of the Sea Catholic Church in La Jolla, California.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in memory of Patrick to the Challenged Athletes Foundation "Operation Rebound," which directly benefits disabled military personnel and first responders. Checks can be made out to "CAF Operation Rebound," 9591 Waples Street, San Diego, CA 92121.

Published in La Jolla Light on Feb. 20, 2014