He was one of a kind. An excellent scientist and an even better human being. I only wished I'd known him sooner. The costumes, the autographed Joyce Dewitt photo floating around the office (and the confusion it caused for interview candidates), the best ever Denali Tee shirt design, and that laugh! I will never forget that laugh! Whenever I was having a bad day, there was Patrick with a huge grin on his face making a witty comment that made it hard not to smile. I am truly heart broken by this sad news, but I take comfort looking through all the photos and memories of others, realizing that Patrick was truly and deeply loved and he loved all those around him. RIP, my friend.
Oh man, that Joyce DeWitt photo! I remember when he got it -- probably our first year of grad school, 1999 or 2000. It was always prominently featured at his desk in the Jan lab, and was always a fantastic conversation starter. It cracks me up to hear that this treasured object continued to serve the same purpose at Denali.
Also, I was super amused to see the reemergence of this Stevie Nicks + wolf t-shirt design. It has a long history: Patrick tried hard to get this design chosen as the official t-shirt for the UCSF neuroscience retreat. I think he even tried for multiple years in the 2001-2004 range, but the t-shirt committee always chose a different design. Clearly the man was not to be denied -- he might have had to wait a decade but eventually he found a way to make his t-shirt dream a reality.