Davis Patterson McNamee<br/>December 4, 1926 - April 28, 2014

Davis “Pat” Patterson McNamee, a former Navy and commercial airline pilot and 52-year resident of Corona del Mar, California, died in his home with family by his side on April 28th, 2014. He was 87 years old.

Pat was born in Seattle, WA on December 4th, 1926 to Dorothy Jean and Shurly Lawrence McNamee, Sr. He attended Roosevelt High School, graduating in 1944. Pat joined the Navy V-12 program and was sent to Gonzaga University in Spokane where he also played basketball for the university, wherein much of his family’s athletic prowess is believed to have originated. He transferred from Gonzaga to Great Lakes Naval Station to continue training but when WWII ended, the Navy discontinued the V-12 program. So, Pat elected to return to Seattle and enrolled at University of Washington where he majored in Zoology and graduated in 1949.

With the start of the Korean War in 1950, Pat promptly left his day job at JC Penney and was accepted back into the prestigious Navy Flight Training Program. He served in the Korean War until it ended in 1953. After completing 4 years of active duty, he joined United Airlines as a flight engineer. He ended his career as a captain on the Boeing 747, 32 years later. Simultaneously, he completed 20 years with the Navy Reserves as a Week-End Warrior.

Pat met his wife of 60 years, Esther McNamee, when stationed at Coronado Island while dining at the US Grant Hotel in San Diego. They were married on October 17, 1953.

When he wasn’t climbing sunward, Pat could be found golfing as a former member of the Newport Beach Country Club or sailing at the Balboa Yacht Club. He was an avid bicyclist throughout his early years and enjoyed a membership at the Newport Beach Athletic Club. Pat was active in the Corona del Mar community, volunteering at St Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church, the annual CDM 5K Walk, the Toshiba Pro Golf Tournament, as well as a past President of the Corona del Mar Kiwanis Club.

If he couldn’t be found in CdM, it was likely he had escaped for a weekend of skiing in Sun Valley, Idaho where he owned a second home. He skied like someone 20 years his junior until an unexpected accident left him sidelined from the slopes for several seasons. He returned to his favorite retreat with family for many enjoyable summers and winters thereafter.

Pat was a humble, good natured and kind man. He was known to have donned a tutu-fairy costume or tattered Raggedy Andy to make his family laugh. Even during difficult days at the hospital toward the end of his life, he cracked jokes and raced his walker through the hallways-he was capable of bringing a smile to anyone’s face. He was incredibly generous to his family, his friends and his community.

“Do the right thing and everything will turn out ok,” Esther remembers him saying often.

Pat is survived by his wife Esther and their three children -Laura Jean McNamee, Bradford James McNamee and his wife, Mari, and Paula Louise McCann and her husband, James -and his five adoring grandchildren, Kelly Jean McCann, Allison Taylor McCann, James Patterson McCann, Marisa Claire McNamee and Ashley Ann McNamee. His siblings include Shurly Lawrence McNamee Jr, Elizabeth Harrison, Richard Franklin McNamee and Robert Shaler McNamee and wife Mary.

A funeral service to celebrate his life will be held on Thursday, May 15th at 1pm at St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church in Corona del Mar. In lieu of flowers, it would be greatly appreciated if any donations were made to: The Pat McNamee Memorial Fund, St Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church, Alzheimer’s Association of Orange County or Kiwanis Newport Beach-CDM Foundation.