Patricia T. (Donegan) Mattie

Patricia [Donegan] Mattie of Malden, MA passed away peacefully and in the company of loved ones on August 2, 2024, after a months-long labor of living with, and dying from, cancer. To her last breath, she spread life and light, humor and happiness, to a wide circle of family, friends, and acquaintances. Company, conversation, and cheer were her great gifts and her great pleasure, across a long and remarkable life she shared with so many.

Pat (or Pattie, to many of her friends) was born in 1942 in Somerville, MA, to Hazel [Mangan] and George Donegan, who raised her in a loving home. She grew up in South Medford, and as an only child, she sought the benefit of friends in reenacting, for example, the adventures of Sergeant Preston of the Yukon, from the newfangled medium of television, which fascinated her. Her love of music, a lifelong enjoyment, came naturally as well as from her paternal grandmother, an entertainer. By high school [at Medford High] she was drawn to doo-wop and soulful vocal groups, and to the blues, and this soundtrack became part of the dear friendships she formed there, many of which lasted and nourished her the rest of her life. After graduating in 1960, she began working for Travelers Insurance, a company she would return to later in life as career employment.

In 1963, she married Michael Mattie, of Medford, and happily found the large family of siblings she wished for since childhood — a family that eventually extended to many nephews and nieces, and their children, who knew her as Auntie Pat, kid-friendly adult and reliable source of: fascinating toys; a listening ear; eagerness to join the play if no other kids were available (and, often, if they were); a card or gift to cheer them. In 1969, she and Michael began a family of their own with the birth of Sean. The family happily expanded in 1970 when three-year-old Scott Melchionda, a cousin in the Mattie family, was welcomed in, to live and be raised in the household. Pat cherished both boys and delighted in watching them grow, play together, exercise their imaginations, and develop their gifts, which she supported emotionally and materially. She was their regular, avid audience for skits, impressions, and tomfoolery, and often a contributor herself. For Scott and Sean (and their childhood friend Bobby Sheridan), Pat created a household that was safe and playful; she shared her hearty sense of humor, encouraging the boys to recognize and revel in the silly and absurd in life — especially in human behavior. As Pat often proclaimed (and not only to the boys), there is nothing funnier than people being themselves, especially when wound up by life’s frustrations.

Pat brought her optimism and dedication to her employment. In the 1970s, Pat returned to work outside the home, as a home health aide in Medford. She became a friendly and dear companion to long-term clients and their families as she provided devoted personal care to elderly women that were homebound and of limited mobility. In the 1980s, she returned to employment at Travelers Insurance, eventually joining the staff of administrative support in the Workers Compensation litigation office, a position that she worked until her 2017 retirement, to care for an ailing Michael. In that lengthy career, Pat was a fine team player, and beyond that, a wonderful conversationalist and confidant to so many — coworkers that fascinated her, that gifted her with company and conversation about their lives, or sports, or fashion, or relationships, as she in turn gifted them with good cheer, a listening ear, and, at the right time, a joke that tickled or made life seem less serious. She was delighted as these companions at work became for her friends outside of work, and, importantly, in her retirement. Understandably, they wanted to hold onto her.

This circle of work friends joined Pat’s other circles of friends, formed from childhood onward, persons she met as she moved through a very active social life, from trips to the aesthetician or massage therapist, to trips to New York City or Encore or a jazz bar. A visit with with Pat was, by all accounts, like tonic (both soda and remedy): a pleasure and a lift in one’s day, refreshing and energizing, like a ray of sunlight or a cool breeze. She truly loved to hear from others, to receive a thought, an update, an anecdote, a joke, a pop culture reference. And in turn Pat always had a story to tell — or rather, perform, with full impersonation and expert timing. These stories not only entertained and uplifted but also illustrated her fascination with other people and how keenly she observed them.

Family, friends, and acquaintances alike cherished and admired Pat for her vivacity and energy, her humor and cheer and optimism, her down-to-earthedness, her availability to listen, her availability and reliability to help, her tremendous work ethic (“stick-to-it-ivity,” she called it), her perseverance in adversity, her devotion to each in a series (sometimes a combination) of rambunctious and demanding family pets, her care and concern for others, and her thoughtfulness in gifting (always with the personal present that you weren’t expecting but that predictably delighted you). Everyone who met Pat was happier for it, and every conversation and get-together with her made the day better. She is dearly missed and deeply mourned, even as our indelible memories keep her spirit alive.

Pat is survived by her son, Sean of Exeter ,NH, her nephew, Scott Melchionda and his children, Evelyn and Henry of Tucker, GA. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Patricia’s honor to Mystic Valley Elder Services (www.mves.org).

A Funeral Mass for Patrica will be held at the Immaculate Conception Church, 600 Pleasant St, Malden on Saturday, August 10th at 10 AM. Family and friends are invited to meet at church, all other services will be private.

Visitation will be held at the Weir-MacCuish Golden Rule Funeral Home, 144 Salem ST, Malden on Friday, August, 9th, from 4 – 8 PM.  

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