Patricia D Driscoll

On the morning of March 14, 2025, Patricia Dorothy Driscoll passed away peacefully in her home in Mahwah, NJ, after fighting the good fight against COPD. She was 84 years old, surrounded by family and love.

Better known as Pat, she was born in Yonkers, NY, on October 31, 1940, to Wallace and Gertrude McLaughlin. She insisted that Halloween ruined her birthday. And her father probably didn’t help matters by nicknaming her “the Witch of Wall Street.” The seventh of nine children, you can imagine the stories. She often told the one about her sister Jean - utterly frustrated with their brother Kevin’s antics - throwing a fork at him. The description of it getting lodged in his neck stuck with us all. Or the one about them playing with lye they found near the train tracks as if it was snow. A small circular scar near her eye was a permanent reminder of their summer “snow fight.” Amazingly enough, they survived their childhood.

She met her beloved husband, Ed, in September 1961 at a restaurant called the Old Mill. Despite both of them showing up with other people, Ed left with Pat’s number. (He had a headstart after noticing her walk past the gas station he owned. More accurately, he said he noticed her legs.) Eight months later, they were married. And 20 months after that, the first of five children was born.

They lived in Ridgefield Park and Dumont and Mountain Lakes. But they settled down and made a life in Woodcliff Lake, NJ. Over the course of 31 years, they owned three different houses in town and built their business, Driscoll Foods. Ed at the warehouse and Pat, manning the phones and taking orders at home. 

She was an avid reader, a prolific painter of ceramic tchotchkes, made the very best meatballs and loved any kind of puzzle. Although, she was often caught cheating at crosswords. “How am I supposed to know these words?!” she’d quip. But what she truly excelled at was being a mom and a grandma. Not because she showered anyone with gifts or went to every game, but because she had this uncanny ability to make you feel like you could just be. Her presence at that moment was her gift.

Pat is survived by her husband, Edward. Or, as she liked to call him: Drisc, Clyde Kadiddlehopper or your father. Emphasis on the “your.” She is also survived by her five loving children, Beth, Kathy, Tim, Sue and her husband Andy, Laura, and her husband Scotty, as well as thirteen wonderful grandchildren, Dylan, Chris, Brandon, Hailey, Cara, Nick, Kenny, Cole, Sean, Will, Katlyn, Amelia and Camille. Of her nine siblings, her sisters Maureen, Jean and Karen, and her brother, Kevin, are still with us. She is predeceased by her brothers, Wallace, Donald, Terry, and Jerry.

One of the last things Ed whispered to her was, “we did it right, honey.” And they sure did.

Visiting hours will be held at the Vander Plaat Funeral Home, 257 Godwin Avenue, Wyckoff, NJ on Tuesday, March 18th from 4–8 pm. A funeral service will be held at St. Elizabeth’s Church, 700 Wyckoff Avenue, Wyckoff, NJ on Wednesday, March 19th at 11 am. Repast to follow at The Brick House in Wyckoff.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made in Patricia’s memory to either: the American Lung Association or the Alzheimer’s Association.