December 22, 1951 – October 20, 2026
Patrick Micheal McDonagh, aged 74, passed away peacefully at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre on October 20, 2026 surrounded by his wife and children. He was predeceased by his parents Beatrice (nee Dena) and William McDonagh and by his older brother Tom.
He is survived by his wife, Dr Martha Bright, his children Mary and James, his sister Cynthia McDonagh and brother William McDonagh and his nephews and nieces.
Patrick was born on December 22, 1951 in St Paul Minnesota. When he was 2, his father moved his family to Moncton, New Brunswick when he decided to resign from the NHL and get his geology degree from the University. His father’s career brought them to Northern Ontario where after a short spell in the mines he switched his career to teaching, landing his family in Copper Cliff Ontario. There Patrick made many lifelong friendships. Long cold winters meant that his father made sure that there was a rink in the backyard instilling a love for hockey. Living in such a small town meant that Pat’s father was his highschool gym teacher . Pat was a very fast runner, and his father made good use of this skill using him as receiver on the football teams and of course in track and field. After high school, Pat went to Laurentian University where he got his degree in chemistry and mathematics which he followed up with his teacher’s degree from the North Bay Teacher’s College.
Pat had many different jobs through his lifetime. At around 13, he worked for the town butcher using that money to satisfy his need to buy records, trendy clothes and of course his first car. Copper Cliff is the Inco company town and he started working in the mine in the summers once he started University. He was offered a job as foreman but declined it so he could become a teacher. His first teaching job was at the English speaking elementary school in Cochrane. This location was close to Iroquois Falls where he could go and visit his Grandmere and his many French speaking cousins. After a couple of years, Pat decided to move to Toronto and initially took a job as a drug rep with Frost and then became the territorial manager for the European pharmaceutical company Milupa. It was at this last job that he met his future wife Martha when he came to her medical office to promote his products. Once he and Martha married in 1982, they decided to embark on a new adventure moving to Thunder Bay in 1984 partly so Pat could escape from the terrors of navigating the Don Valley Parkway and partly so Martha could enjoy the challenges of working in a Northern Ontario community. This change led to Patrick taking a break from work getting to play golf daily. Getting a teaching job in Thunder Bay at that time was difficult, so Patrick became the store manager at the McIntyre Shoppers Drug Mart. As the job market began to change Pat left Shoppers and started supply teaching for the Catholic and Public School Boards and got a break when he was hired to teach at St Ignatius. He continued to teach at ST Ignatius until 2011 when he retired. While at St Ignatius he got involved with the students. He enjoyed mixing with the students in the halls and coaching various sports which included football, and cross country running. His running teams often went to OFFSA but he didn’t just want the talented runners. He encouraged everyone to train and run.
His free time was spent golfing, playing squash, curling, skiing, hockey and training for marathons. He and Dr Henry Hamilton ran two of the Grandma marathons.
Patrick and his wife were 47 when they went to China to adopt first Mary and then 3 years later James. He was very involved with his kids. Overcoming his fear of water taking them to kinderswim, taking them skiing and golfing, attending soccer and basketball practices and competitions and attending dance recitals and competitions. He supported their dreams and saw them both graduate from university.
Special thanks must be given to all of the staff at Southbridge Pinewood, Pioneer Ridge Nursing Home and the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre. I also want to make a special Mention of his good friend Bobby DuBois who took the time to regularly visit Pat at the nursing home and often took him out for hot chocolate and a bagel. After Pat was sent to the hospital, he came almost every day to be at Pat’s bedside.
In Lieu of flowers please give to Alzheimers, Cancer or to the charity of your choice.
Funeral service and Celebration of Pat’s Life will be on Thursday, November 12, 2026 at 2:00 p.m. in St Paul’s United Church, 349 Waverley Street. Visitation will take place on Wednesday, November 11, 2026 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. in the EVEREST FUNERAL CHAPEL, 299 Waverley Street at Algoma.
Please sign the online condolences at everestofthunderbay.com
