OBIT: Frank Patterson has died!

Subject: Frank Patterson has died!
From: Brendy
Date: 12 Jun 00 - 03:41 AM

I've been on the go all weekend, and have just this minute turned on RTÉ Radio 1 only to find out that Frank Patterson, one of Ireland's great Tenors, had died on Saturday. Article in today's Irish Times

B.

Subject: RE: Frank Patterson has died!
From: SINSULL
Date: 12 Jun 00 - 08:44 AM

Brendy,

This is such a shock. Frank Patterson was a genuinely generous man willing to share his talent and help others develop theirs. He appeared gratis at a local church in Jackson Heights several times to help them raise money in hard times. And always included his wife, son, and several harpists from his wife's school on the bill. He also made sure to allow for a certain amount of audience participation - it was too hard not to sing along.

He had to run to a limousine waiting outside to make his Carnegie Hall appearance on time. No small feat with an assortment of harps and fiddles in tow.

He was a typical tenor - all ego and strut with a glorious voice and a great sense of humor about it all. I will miss him.

Subject: RE: Frank Patterson has died!
From: GUEST,George Henderson NSC
Date: 12 Jun 00 - 09:17 AM

We will all miss him. Another fine talent has gone to his eternal reward. But we must celebrate his life and music by ensuring that we sing his songs and encourage other talents to come to the fore.

Subject: RE: Frank Patterson has died!
From: Conrad Bladey (Peasant- Inactive)
Date: 12 Jun 00 - 09:23 AM

What will public television do with out ole Frank. They have featured him on their fund raisers for years... recently he was somewhat eclipsed by the three Irish tennors shows but with them you miss the country side infront of which frank was always perched. If you got tired of the sickly sweet music of the republic you could always turn off the volume and watch the sheep or waves or cliffs go by..... Conrad

Subject: RE: Frank Patterson has died!
From: DonMeixner
Date: 12 Jun 00 - 11:55 PM

I met him 5 years back at a gig we shared in Syracuse at The Hotel. We lunched together, My band, he and Eilley. Generous sole. Saw him again the next year and he greeted us like old Pals and got the names right.

Don

Subject: RE: Frank Patterson has died!
From: Mbo
Date: 13 Jun 00 - 12:36 AM

The first time I heard "Fields of Athenry" was by Frank....he will be missed greatly..

--Mbo

Subject: RE: Frank Patterson has died!
From: Frank McGrath
Date: 13 Jun 00 - 08:19 PM

I am saddened by Frank Pattersons early passing. He had a magical voice and a warm heart. He was the modern standard bearer of a particular style and tradition and he has set a model example for those who follow him.

He will not be forgotton.

Non omni moriar.
We shall not altogether die.

Frank

Subject: RE: OBIT: Frank Patterson has died!
From: Joe Offer
Date: 21 Aug 01 - 10:35 PM

I thought I'd copy-paste this so it doesn't get lost. It's from The Irish Times, Monday, June 12, 2000.
-Joe Offer-

---

The President, Mrs McAleese, and the Taoiseach Mr Ahern have led tributes to the tenor Mr Frank Patterson, who has died at the age of 59.

The inheritor of Count John McCormack's mantle of Ireland's leading tenor, Mr Patterson made 36 albums in a career spanning four decades. He was diagnosed with a brain tumour last year and underwent several operations.
Three weeks ago he was to sing at the funeral of Cardinal John O'Connor in New York, but collapsed on the same morning. He did make a final performance at a concert in Boston last Sunday.

Mrs McAleese said she was deeply saddened by the Clonmel, Co Tipperary-born singer's intimelt death. He had "proudly promoted" Ireland and Irish music throughout the world. "The people of Tipperary, of Ireland and lovers of great musical talent around the world will sorely miss Frank's fantastic personality and generosity which, along with his acclaimed talent made him one of Ireland's favourite sons," she said.

Mr Ahern described Mr Patterson as "among the greatest artists that this island has produced. As a world-class tenor he has brought notice and distinction to the great Irish musical tradition".

The undoubted highlight of Mr Patterson's career for many people was his performance before an audience of over one million people at the Papal Mass in the Phoenix Park in 1979. He was made a Knight of St Gregory for his services to the Pope.

Cinemagoers will best remember Mr Patterson for the role of the tenor Bartell D'Arcy in the film version of The Dead. He also appeared in Miller's Crossing and Michael Collins.

While music purists sometimes cavilled at his preference for popular favourites over classical music, there was no doubting his appeal with the public. In the 1970s his RTÉ programme For Your Pleasure was a huge success; in the 1990s he sang five of the 20 tracks on the surprise hit compilation of religious anthems, Faith of our Fathers.

The singer's cheery personality is encapsulated in articles written about him over the years, under headlines such as "the world's jolliest tenor" and "a happy man". But beneath the bonhomie lay a strong drive and a practical ego; "I love being recognised. I love filling halls. I can fill Radio City Centre (in New York) and I love it," he told The Irish Times in 1996.

Born in 1941, Mr Patterson left school after the Inter Cert to go into the family printing business. In Dublin he studied singing during the day under Dr Hans Waldemar Rosen and paid for his lessons with a night-job at Irish Printers.

He won four competitions in the 1964 Feis Ceoil, and singing engagements and recording contracts followed. A series of American tours consolidated his reputation on both sides of the Atlantic; Mr Patterson performed with his wife, the pianist Eily O'Grady, in the White House on several occasions.

The couple moved with their son Éanán to the US in 1987, although they continued to live part of the year in Co Wicklow. The actor and radio presenter, Mr Des Keogh, who is married to Mr Patterson's sister-in-law Ms Geraldine O'Grady, yesterday described the tenor's unique relationship with audiences: "It was wonderful to see the way the audience reacted to him. The love came across. And it was a two-way thing. He just adored his audiences as well."

Mr Patterson's life will be celebrated at a Mass in St Patrick's Cathedral in New York on Wednesday. His body will be flown home to Ireland the same day and the removal takes place to the Pro-Cathedral in Dublin at 6.30 p.m. on Thursday. He will be buried in Clonmel cemetery on Saturday.

Subject: RE: OBIT: Frank Patterson has died!
From: GUEST
Date: 22 Aug 01 - 12:37 AM

Note clearly that the date of the obit was June 12. I've know for a little over 2 months that he had died.

Subject: RE: OBIT: Frank Patterson has died!
From: DougR
Date: 22 Aug 01 - 03:57 PM

It is difficult to imagine that he died in June, and the news is just now posted on the Mudcat.

I loved his voice. DougR

Subject: RE: OBIT: Frank Patterson has died!
From: DougR
Date: 22 Aug 01 - 03:58 PM

Where have I been? I note that the thread WAS posted in June, and somehow I missed it.

Subject: RE: OBIT: Frank Patterson has died!
From: Amergin
Date: 22 Aug 01 - 05:19 PM

Doug....it was posted in June, 2000.....I missed it too....

Subject: RE: OBIT: Frank Patterson has died!
From: Celtic Soul
Date: 22 Aug 01 - 08:33 PM

This is news to me as well. Are we simply missing out on news of the world over on this side of the pond?