Nevertheless, he went on to build a legal career in Texas spanning more than five decades in admiralty and maritime law. He is survived by his wife Pamela Joy Pagano Cooney, his children, Elena Valentine Cooney Denis, Kathlyn Mary Cooney, Erin Joy Cooney, and James Brennan Cooney, as well as his grandchildren, Emilie Rose Denis, Luc Richard Denis, Julian Patrick Crawford, Olivia Kathlyn Cooney, Jamie Aaron Cooney, and his brother Timothy J. Cooney. His children-in-law are David Jean-Michel Denis, Remy Omar Hiramoto, Dominic Richard Thomas, and Kelli Beth Cooney. His step-grandchildren are Kimberly Malia Hiramoto, Branden Keijiro Hiramoto, and Devereux Maxwell Thomas. He also had a Grand Banks East Bay cruiser that he loved like a family member.
He was known to everyone as Pat, a good Irish Catholic name. Pat attended the University of Notre Dame, earning his Bachelor of Arts, cum laude, in 1966, before continuing on to Notre Dame Law School, where he received his Juris Doctor in 1969. Since he set foot on the campus, the University of Notre Dame, and its football team, found a fond and beloved place in his heart. Indeed, Pat’s remains will be buried at Notre Dame Cedar Grove Cemeteries, and he has urged all his family and friends to visit him on campus during football game weekends because Go Irish! He never failed to cry at the band’s playing of “Notre Dame Our Mother.”