Harry Pat Patrick Daly Jr.

Harry Patrick Daly, Jr. 80, of Vienna, Virginia, passed away on October 10, 2012.

Harry Patrick or “Pat” as he is known to his friends and family was born in Staten Island, New York on February 18, 1932 to the late Harry Patrick Daly Sr, a first generation Irish immigrant and the late Walterine White Daly who had relocated to New York with her family from Alabama. Pat was the first child of a family that would grow to five with a brother Robert soon after his birth, and a sister Susan, a decade later.

Pat attended Curtis High School in Staten Island, where he excelled in student activities including journalism as a reporter and editor for the school newspaper THE LOG, track and field as a runner, and as a member of the Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC).

It was the United States Navy that became Pat’s passion when he enrolled in Auburn University in Alabama and joined the Naval Reserve Officers Training Program. After graduation in 1952, Pat Daly enrolled in the United States Navy.

LCDR Pat Daly was a pilot with a lifelong passion for the air which he would share over the years as an instructor and executive squadron officer. With his love of flight and the aid of military fighter jets he would soar skyward off aircraft carriers such as the USS Ranger and the USS Enterprise; though it was the USS Midway that always held a special and ongoing place in his heart.

On November 7, 1959 Lieutenant Pat Daly married Bonnie Rose McMinn in Berkeley, California while stationed at Alameda Naval Air Station. They divorced in 1980 remaining devoted parents.

Pat is the father of five children born over the course of his career: Michael Patrick, while a student at Navy Post Graduate School in Monterey, California; James Scott, while serving at Kingsville Naval Air Station in Kingsville, Texas; Stephen Glenn while serving at Alameda Naval Air Station; and Bonnie Susan, who predeceased him, while at Miramar Naval Air Station in San Diego. Pat would retire from Coronado Naval Air Station.

As a father Pat exuded and shared passion; a passion for photography, which would sometimes be a challenge for his children which were his favorite subject, but would also be an honor when invited to witness photographs developed in his darkroom; a passion for music and dance which captivated and mesmerized him; a passion for computers and technology which enthralled and amazed him.

After retirement from the Navy, Pat moved from California to Northern Virginia where he pursued is second passion, real estate.

In his final years, Pat suffered from a rare form of Parkinson’s disease known as Lewy Body which would eventually require assisted living. He moved to Sunrise Assisted Living, in Hunter Mill, Virginia where he continued his pastimes, gradually giving them up as required, but never losing his smile or his wink.

Pilots never die, they just fly away – missed but never forgotten.

LCDR Harry Patrick Daly, Jr. is survived in addition to his children, by five grandchildren, Jennifer Lynn Gorsuch of Hesperia, California; Nicole Elyce Bickel-Daly, Chelsea Lynn Andersen, Lacey Rae Elliott and one nephew , Blake Austin Daly all of San Diego, California as well as six great grand-children. Most recently, Lacey’s twins were born just a few days before his passing.

A memorial service will be held at Arlington National Cemetery on Tuesday, May 14 at 1:00 p.m.