In memory of Patrick Beagan: 1964 -2023

My father, Patrick Beagan, was an incredible artist, architect, family man and human being. At the time of writing this, he was suddenly taken away from us less than 24 hours ago.

My dad was unbelievably kind, well read, passionately nerdy and talented. He was a painter, a bass guitar player, the family handyman. With a master's degree in architecture from Pratt, he went on to achieve some incredible feats such as helping design American embassies and even work on the Freedom Tower in Manhattan. Simply put, he was an incredible human being.

For the last decade or so, my father has been inundated with health problems, those that only worsened as time went on. He had heart failure, a pace maker defibrillator, back/shoulder/knee/hip arthritis pain, compressed discs in his neck and lower back. He has had seizures and has fallen multiple times as a result of consistently severe low blood pressure. Because of all of these issues, try as he might, he was never approved for life insurance and had he been approved, the premiums were exorbitant. All of this came to a head this week and has completely taken us off guard.

My father had always taught me to be strong and keep personal issues close quarters, but I do not want to see my mom struggle anymore. She has been his rock and his anchor for over 3 decades and since his medical issues progressed, so did the medical bills. Right up to the morning of his passing, on top of making his way through his continual journey to resolve his health issues, he was trying to take care of these things himself.

At this moment in time I'm doing everything I can to take the weight off of her shoulders, but I never anticipated for something like this to happen so soon. I owe my life and so much more to her and my dad, I simply want to make this as smooth a process as possible.

Again, I don't feel great doing this and it's a lot to ask for, but even just a little bit would help. It would mean the world to my family, and wherever my dad is right now, I know he would appreciate it too.