Patrick Jeremiah McNeice

Patrick Jeremiah McNeice of West Springfield passed away Jan. 31, 2020 at Baystate Medical Center. Pat, son of John and Margaret McNeice (O’Brien), was born in Springfield on August 22, 1943. He went to Cathedral Grammar School and was an altar boy at St. Michael’s Cathedral. He graduated from Technical High School in Springfield in 1962 and enlisted in the United States Navy, serving on the USS Jonas Ingram until his honorable discharge in 1966. Soon after, he settled his growing family in Westfield, Massachusetts, where he established a locksmithing business and began his lifelong dedication to youth sports. For Westfield Little League Baseball, he spent time as a successful coach, president, secretary, umpire, and umpire in chief. He helped coach the 1989 All Star team to a state championship. For nearly fifteen years, he was also a very successful coach of the Westfield Colonials youth football team, which went undefeated for a majority of those seasons. Through his ability as a coach and mentor and the care he showed to all he coached, he touched the lives of many young men who still recall with fondness and respect his encouragement, his discipline, and his booming voice. He was also a longstanding member of the Sons of Erin of Westfield and American Legion Post 454. Besides devoting himself to his family and community, he loved listening to rock n roll, blues, classical, and jazz, and following the local sports teams, especially the Boston Red Sox. He was a voracious reader and spent a part of every Sunday completing the New York Times crossword puzzle. Most of all, he enjoyed sitting on a porch having a Genesee Cream Ale and a laugh with a friend. He was the youngest of six children, predeceased by his brothers John and Larry and his sisters Jane Raffaele and Theresa Miller. He will be terribly missed by his wife Julie McNeice (Wisniowski), his sons Patrick, Christopher, and David, his grandchildren James, Eric, Amelia, Alex, and Oskar, his sister Margaret Ferraro, his brother-in-law Walter Wisniowski, his sisters-in-law Wanda Wisniowski (Palivoda) and Gladys Wisniowski, his numerous nieces and nephews, and the many good friends he made along the way. Calling hours will be held Friday, Feb. 7, from 11:00am to 1:00 pm at Firtion Adams FS, 76 Broad St. in Westfield, MA, followed by a memorial service at the funeral home. There will be an interment ceremony at 2:00 pm at the Massachusetts Veterans Memorial Cemetery, 1390 Main St., Agawam, MA. In lieu of flowers, donations can be sent to Westfield Youth Football, P.O. Box 163, Westfield, MA 01085, or online at https://westfieldyouthfootball.sportngin.com/register/form/521388911.

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