My Friend Pat Catania: A Fighter Rests
Colorful and strong willed people make the world more interesting. Every meeting and phone call I had with Pat Catania was filled with colorful debate. He was a fighter and always made me rethink issues, methods of adjustment and coverage because he never accepted conventional thinking. When he learned he had liver cancer, he fought the conventional grim prognosis to the bitter end. I would have expected nothing less from him.
Pat's obituary was certainly right when it indicated that he was a "passionate fighter and a true advocate for the policyholder's rights." A lawyer by training, we would share ideas and perspectives about the subtle issues of coverage, adjustment, and unfair claims practice. It was easy to tell that Pat loved the law and lore of insurance. Maybe because of his legal background, he shared transcripts of depositions and his thoughts regarding how to attack an insurance company's denial of coverage. He made me a better lawyer.
He was very proud of his website MySmartClaims.com. We spent several hours together as he explained the concept and showed me the Google analytics results. He was especially amused at how many hits he received from Bloomington, Illinois. He joked that the State Farm Home Office executives were learning how to adjust homeowners claims based on his website. To say that Pat enjoyed the fight against the largest insurers would be a significant understatement; he loved the battle.
I will miss Pat and our vibrant discussions about the law, insurance and adjusting. There is a time when all fighters eventually find peace.
Chip
Pat was a great guy, and has a wonderful large family. The services at The Little Flower were memorable, to say the least. The elegant service by the Reverend Pastor, who uttered a small statement in Italian during the euology, really was astonishing.
Many,many of Pat's circle of friends, adjusters, attorneys, claims people from both sides, were in attendance.
Long live his memory and may God bless Patrick Catania.
Regards,
Ed Rega
I believe that Pat might have been my cousin. My father was James Catania of Hoboken, NJ. His brother Francis was married to Beatrice. My mother's name was Ann Marie and I have a sister Merrily. I have been searching for years to find relatives on my father's side of the family and stumbled upon Pat's obituary. If we were related I would love to hear from any other relatives.