Official Obituary of
Patrick E. Dwyer II
Patrick E. Dwyer II, 86, was a proud son of Chicago’s South Side, scholar, athlete, a dedicated trial attorney, friend, Ignatian, and a deeply devoted family man.
Visitation Monday, July 27, from 5–8 p.m. at Donnellan Funeral Home, 10525 S. Western Ave., Chicago. Church visitation Tuesday, July 28, 9:30–10:30 a.m., followed by Funeral Mass at 10:30 a.m. at Old St. Patrick’s Church, 700 W. Adams St., Chicago.
Interment: Private
In lieu of flowers: Donations may be made in Pat’s honor to Chicago Jesuit Academy 5058 West Jackson Blvd Chicago, Il 60644, St. Ignatius College Prep Scholarship Fund 1076 W. Roosevelt Rd. Chicago, Il 60608, or Loyola University Chicago Athletics (basketball) 820 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, Il 60611.
Arrangements entrusted to Donnellan Funeral Home. For info, call 773-238-0075 or sign the guestbook at www.donnellanfuneralhome.com.
A luncheon will be held at the University Club of Chicago 76 East Monroe Street Chicago, IL 60603. For parking information - https://www.ucco.com/about/directions
And here is Pat’s story:
Pat was the beloved husband of Carol (nee Kaiser) Dwyer, with whom he shared a beautiful life and a 60-year marriage. Incredibly proud father of Noelle (Paul Yates) Dwyer, Patrick Edward Dwyer III, and Sean (Julie) Dwyer. His spirit lives on in his five wonderful grandchildren who brought endless happiness, Aidan and Keira Yates, Ella, Max, and Lucy Dwyer. He was a cherished son of the late Francis and Virginia (nee Knotts) Dwyer; loving brother of Monica (James) Fox, Michael (Geraldine) Dwyer, the late Kathleen (James) Sampson, the late William (the late Lee) Dwyer, and the late Mary Christine Dwyer; also survived by many loving cousins, nieces, and nephews.
Pat carried the name of his grandfather, Patrick Edward Dwyer — the first of three Patrick’s in the family, though a generation was skipped in between. That first Patrick Edward Dwyer was the son of Irish immigrants who began his working life as a barrel maker (cooper) in the Chicago stockyards before declaring, “I’d rather be a copper than a cooper.” He joined the Chicago Police Department, where he later served as the department’s head lobbyist for the Chicago Police Pension Fund.
Born on July 9, 1940, Pat grew up in the vibrant Irish-Catholic neighborhoods of St. Kilian and St. Margaret of Scotland. They were the source of many of his stories of life growing up, the nuns, and various mischief including the famous Christmas Tree Fire story. Following his mom’s example, he was a lifelong avid reader, which helped him develop into a “scholar athlete.” The neighborhood parks and playgrounds were his second home, where he honed his skills playing 16-inch softball and basketball. Pat went by the motto “when in doubt, shoot” — one of several sayings he lived by, alongside “when in doubt, tell the truth” and “when you don’t know what to do, do something.”
He loved to share the true story that, thanks to his basketball shooting skills, he actually made more money wagering on basketball in the caddy yard than he ever did caddying at Beverly Country Club. He was a self-described shy, awkward teenager whom the Jesuits taught to simply say “hello” first — a small courage that grew, over a lifetime, into one of his great gifts. He became a natural storyteller, beloved for retelling the oral history of his antics during childhood, and an advocate juries genuinely loved. This is one reason he was so well liked.
Although he had to work to pay his own way through high school, college, and law school, and could not afford to play on the teams, he blossomed into a great athlete. He even played as a ringer on the Chicago Police Department in a game against Mike Ditka and other Chicago Bears. He was a hooper well into his mid-50s — playing on a competitive team of players over fifty, made up mostly of former Division I basketball players and Pat, that traveled the country. Pat also loved to tell stories of athletic pursuits that he tried but did not go so well, such as flunking ski school. But he was a lifelong devotee of golf due to his caddying. Pat would fulfill a lifelong goal by joining Olympia Fields Country Club in the early 1980s, where he played a lot of golf, made great friends, and hosted many joyous occasions over the course of four decades.
Pat graduated from St. Ignatius College Prep and earned an Illinois State Scholarship, making a college education possible. He later completed his undergraduate degree at Loyola University Chicago, majoring in sociology, and was accepted into Officer Candidate School with the United States Navy. Due to a perilous and excruciating near-death experience in a fall from a water tower on his first day of a painting job, he was unable to serve. Instead, he used the settlement proceeds to attend DePaul University College of Law, where he earned his Juris Doctor degree. Pat never stopped attending games and other events and rooting for the Loyola Ramblers, and his loyalty was rewarded by the 2018 Final Four run. His attendance at the Final Four with Carol was one of the best experiences of their lifetime, and also one of the purest experiences of basketball, with Sister Jean, before the changing landscape of the transfer portal and NIL.
In private practice, Pat took on every kind of case — until an ad he placed in the Yellow Pages helped spark his business, and his personal injury and workers’ advocacy practice began to boom. From then on, he dedicated himself to representing injured individuals and workers, eventually founding his own law firm and employing, mentoring, and befriending many great lawyers over the years — in all that time, he never once had to personally let one of them go. Echoing his basketball career, he would often say, “when in doubt, tell the truth.” He represented many “tickets to heaven” well into his early 80s, when he retired in the pandemic. He lost a few cases too, as any trial lawyer does. He was never afraid to take on a large corporation that had done wrong, and had little patience for those who — as he put it — “took the king’s shilling,” the habit of working for whoever was most powerful without regard for what was right. He was an active and respected leader within the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, serving on numerous vital committees. He instigated and founded, with his good friends, the St. Ignatius Law Society and its annual law luncheon. In 2011, he was honored by the St. Ignatius Law Society with a prestigious alumni award for excellence in the practice of law, and received a standing ovation. He was a fierce advocate for the everyday worker, defined by integrity and an unwavering work ethic, and the deep compassion born from his own experience with dangerous, life-threatening jobs. He revered President John F. Kennedy and self-described his politics as an “FDR Democrat,” a conviction deeply informed by his faith, particularly the 25th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew.
This same conviction regarding Matthew 25 informed his weekly Mass attendance and his generosity to Jesuit causes and political stances that helped people in concrete, often unglamorous ways — a conviction he held even as his illness later allowed those who loved him to serve him as he once served them.
Pat and Carol shared an extraordinary sixty-year marriage. They met at Butch McGuire’s. Carol was athletic too. They had to come to an agreement regarding sports, and they went to Mass together every week. Even in their final hours together, they remained affectionate with one another — touches, kisses, and words of love. Pat was, in his own way, a scholar: his parents held only high school diplomas, and he went on to earn a college degree at a time when very few of his generation did. That same devotion to learning carried forward the rest of the family; they’re all scholar-athletes.
Beyond his professional success, Pat’s greatest legacy and joy was his family. He took enormous pride in his grandchildren and their advancing education, talents, and hobbies — dancing, golf, baseball, softball, basketball, and budding businesses — and was equally proud of his godchildren, nieces, and nephews. He loved being on their level, never too dignified for a bit of silly humor. He loved to tell them, “The Night Before Christmas” and attend their events, recitals, and milestones. Pat lived life with an open heart and firmly believed in finding the joy in every moment. Everywhere he went — in Chicago and well beyond it — he ran into someone he knew, and would always introduce himself warmly if they didn’t remember him first.
His family did not expect the cancer diagnosis he received after Memorial Day weekend. In his last months, he celebrated his 86th birthday just 2 weeks ago with his wife and all of his kids, watched the White Sox daily, spent every day with family members and new friends, received well wishes from friends, and cared deeply about politics. He liked to say, “God must be laughing in heaven to see you doing so well.” And now we are hoping Pat is doing the same for Him.
Pat was often asked to do eulogies for others. He would invariably quote Hamlet. We are heartbroken and hopeful, and now it is our turn to quote Horatio for our beloved Pat:
“Now cracks a noble heart. Good-night, sweet prince; And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.”
—Hamlet, Act V, scene II
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