Patrick Lee Nex

Patrick Lee Nex, beloved husband, father, and grandpa lived a life full of adventure and love before passing away after a 35-year battle with the debilitating effects of Agent Orange. On August 29, 2022, Pat died peacefully in his home surrounded by his wife, all his children, and four of his granddaughters at the age of 76.

Pat was born on June 24, 1946 in Jacksonville, North Carolina to Bill and Renee Kinney. Not long after, his parents’ divorced and he moved to Orange County, California with his mother and older brother, Bill, where he would enjoy his childhood. His mother later married Robert Nex who adopted both Bill and Pat. During his teenage years, Pat could often be found at the beach surfing. In 1963, Pat met the love of his life, Carol Moran, at the tender age of 16. He went on to graduate from Orange High School in 1964.

In July 1965, Pat joined the Marine Corps and fought courageously in the Vietnam War until coming home in 1967. Up until the day of his passing, he was so proud of his service in the Marine Corps and could always be found wearing a Marine Corps hat or t-shirt.

Upon returning from the Vietnam War, he married his high school sweetheart, Carol, on April 1, 1967. Pat attended night school and a few years later, at the age of 25, founded his company, Spectrum Information Systems, where he wrote, sold, and marketed manufacturing software in the budding computer industry. He ran a lucrative and successful business for 17 years until illness forced his retirement at the age of 42. At that time, he was advised that he would be lucky to live 10 more years.

Upon the advice of his doctors to seek a less stressful environment and in hopes of extending his life, Pat sold his company and he and Carol moved their family to Austin, TX where they built a beautiful home on Lake Travis. It was here that Pat continued his love for all water sports such as boating, fishing, and knee boarding.

Pat had an amazing sense of humor and was always doing crazy things to make the kids laugh like eating bugs and telling inappropriate nursery rhymes. One of his favorite quotes was The Golden Rule “The one who has the gold, makes the rules!” Pat was kind, generous and genuine. He had strong political views and was never afraid to share them. He always had such a huge presence and was one of a kind! However, Pat’s biggest love and accomplishment was his family. He loved being surrounded by his 5 children, 14 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren. Family was his greatest joy and his reason for living 25 years longer than expected. Pat was one of the last of a generation who put God, family, and country at the top of their priority list.

Pat was preceded in death by his father Robert and mother Renee. Pat will be dearly missed and is survived by, Carol, his wife of 55 years, of Lakeway, Texas; son Michael, wife Kelly, of Nashville, Tennessee; son Mark, wife Jenny, of Temecula, California; daughter Melissa, husband Jerad, of Austin, Texas; daughter Marne, husband Blake, of Cedar Park, Texas; daughter Macy of Austin; 14 grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren. He is also survived by his sister Holly Kinney of Dallas. He will also be dearly missed by his constant lap/service dog Ziggy.

In Lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Tunnel to Towers Foundation in memory of Patrick Nex at https://T2T.org or by mail Tunnel to Towers Form.

A Memorial Mass with Military Honors will be held at 11:00am on Monday, November 21, 2022 at Emmaus Catholic Church, 1718 Lohmans Crossing Rd. Lakeway, Texas 78734.