A life well lived, despite the struggles.
Patrick was driven with a curiosity about the world around him. From a young age, this manifested itself in mischievous experiments and creative solutions to his problems. When he was two years old, dissatisfied with his dirty room, he dragged the garden hose into the house to clean it himself. A few years later, infatuated with the idea of fire, he set some toys in his closet on fire because he wanted to know how they would burn. This then extended to a neighbor’s decorative grass, as well as his little sister Maggie’s hair.
“He loved to play tricks on people, and his wicked sense of humor got him into trouble a few times,” his mother Susan said. “Patrick was extremely intelligent, outgoing, personable, thoughtful, and hilarious. He was also stubborn and impatient sometimes, but he was pure joy in every sense of the word.”
One of Patrick’s favorite experiments was making “potions” in the kitchen, which developed into one of his true loves: cooking. It was the key that opened him up to the world—his curiosity, as usual, leading the way. After graduating from Johnson Wales Culinary School, he worked as a professional chef in the Cayman Islands for eight years. Though it was the cuisines that initially captivated him, his curiosity did not end there. Susan shared: “Cooking was his art, his love. He enjoyed learning about different cultures and their food preferences. He was fluent in Spanish, which he taught himself, and could speak some German and Tagalog.” Whether he was cooking for a professional competition, high-profile clients such as Anthony Bourdain or the former Alabama Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban, or his beloved family, Patrick put the same detailed care and passion into each meal.
While working in the Cayman Islands, he met Rosanna, the love of his life. They married and had two children, Kimberly, and Austin. While he had always been compassionate, Patrick’s love for his children was unmatched. He worked long hours in the hospitality industry—sometimes up to 90 hours in a week—and, though he loved cooking, he always wished for more time with his children.
Patrick received a diagnosis for Ankylosing Spondylitis, a painful autoimmune disease exacerbated by the time spent on his feet in the kitchen. The diagnosis was a devastating turning point for both Patrick and his loved ones. Already disillusioned with the long hours and low pay, he gave up hope for his future. He began taking pain medication and, when he was cut off from these, he turned to other substances for relief.
“After his overdose in 2016, I became the prison warden—monitoring his behavior, drug testing him, questioning his every move,” Susan said. “I had lost one son, Aaron, to drugs. I would not lose another one. I didn’t know about the heroin until he was hospitalized with endocarditis.”
When Patrick passed away one year later, many coworkers and friends shared that Patrick had been a supportive and guiding light, encouraging them to be ever curious and creative.
“I am profoundly aware of the presence of my boys’ absences. I am sad every minute of every day—but I try my best to educate others, to have sympathy and hope for those who struggle. I am not at all ashamed of my boys. They were victims. It is not a lack of character or a moral issue if someone suffers from substance use disorder. SUD does not discriminate.”
Patrick’s mother, Susan Brawley, provided the information for this narrative.
August 1, 1984-August 8, 2017–Age 33
Portrait Artist: Jeremy Hebbel
Narrative Writer: Angela Day
