Patrick Linehan Jr., longtime Amityville educator, dies

Patrick Francis Linehan Jr., a longtime educator and financial planner who raised his family in Amityville, has died. He was 71.

Linehan died from complications related to pancreatic cancer, which he battled for several months, family members said.

Friends and family knew the father of three and grandfather of six as a larger-than-life presence who used his humor, wit and charm to bond with people, said his daughter, Erin Linehan, 42, of Safety Harbor, Florida.

“In any room he’s in, he’s the person that you hear and want to be next to,” she said. “He makes everyone he’s speaking to feel like the most important person.”

Patrick Linehan was born July 31, 1945, in the Catskills and was raised in Ozone Park, Queens, the family said. He graduated from Archbishop Molloy High School and St. John’s University, where he majored in elementary education. He went on to earn a master’s degree from Hofstra University.

In 1967, Linehan married Jane Uftring. The couple moved into a two-story Colonial-style house in Amityville where they raised three children: Patrick, Colleen and Erin.

In his 18-year career as an educator, Linehan taught math at Jerusalem Avenue Junior High School in Bellmore, and later served as dean of students, the family said.

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Linehan started a second career as a certified financial planner in 1984 to spend more time with his family. He spent summers as a lifeguard and managed to squeeze in a short stint as a volunteer firefighter in Amityville in the 1970s, Erin Linehan said.

He was an avid fisherman, and enjoyed taking grandchildren along during summer visits to Florida. He also organized annual outings with his old fraternity, Phi Kappa Tau.

Linehan discovered his illness in September when he felt short of breath and was taken to the hospital. After a battery of tests, doctors found the pancreatic cancer mass that had already spread to his liver.

During his final days, Linehan was visited by a steady stream of loved ones. It was important to him that he not die during the holidays, so as to not ruin Christmas for his grandchildren. He died Dec. 18 feeling fulfilled.

“He said, ‘My bucket list was my family. I don’t have anything left to do. I got everything I wanted out of life,’ ” Erin Linehan recalled.

Survivors include his wife; son, Patrick Linehan of Chevy Chase, Maryland; daughter, Colleen Haskell Linehan of Lloyd Harbor; sister, Dorothy Kaffl Linehan of Glen Head; and brother, Timothy Linehan Sr. of Yardley, Pennsylvania.

Services were held at St. Martin of Tours Church in Amityville. He was buried at St. Charles Cemetery in East Farmingdale.