Patrick Finley is being remembered as a devoted son and brother who fulfilled a dream of serving the country in the U.S. Navy,
Finley, of Mayfair, recently lost a short battle with epithelioid sarcoma, a form of cancer. When he was diagnosed in December, it was in stage 4. He passed on March 6 at age 25.
Finley is survived by his parents, Sean and Donna, and sisters Rebecca and Caitlin.
The Times attended a “draping of the charter” ceremony on March 9 at American Legion William D. Oxley Post 133, 7900 Torresdale Ave. Finley’s family agreed that his sisters would speak to the Times about his life.
“Patrick, or pappy we would call him, was the best big brother in the world. He would do anything for us no matter what it was. He protected us no matter what and was our mom’s baby boy. As a son he made both our parents proud since he comes from a line of Navy men. He was just all around the most caring person ever,” they said.
A viewing for Navy CS2 Patrick Joseph Finley will take place on Friday, March 28, at 10 a.m. at John F. Givnish Funeral Home, 10975 Academy Road. A service, with military honors, will follow at 1 p.m.
Finley attended St. Matthew Elementary School from kindergarten through fifth grade, Forrest Elementary School in sixth grade, Austin Meehan Middle School in seventh and eighth grades and New Foundations Charter High School. He played baseball for Holy Terrors and New Foundations.
He worked for Ryeco, a produce company in Southwest Philadelphia, filling orders and loading them onto tractor trailers.
“He loved working down there,” his sisters. “His coworkers became like a family. We still all talk with them and see them occasionally.”
In June 2020, he enlisted in the Navy. His dad is a Navy veteran, while grandfathers Joseph “Norman” Finley served in the Army and Navy and Donald Fleischer served in the Merchant Marine.
“We have never been more proud of a person in our lives since he joined the Navy,” Patrick’s sisters said. “He worked day and night to get into shape and studied so hard to get into the Navy, and we watched him sigh in relief going into boot camp. All he ever wanted to do was serve our country.”
Finley spent the first year after boot camp going to “A School” for a culinary specialist in Virginia. After that, he was stationed at Naval Base San Diego and on the USS San Diego (LPD 22). In July 2024, the USS San Diego transferred duty stations and was sent to Sasebo, Japan.
In December, he was diagnosed with cancer. He received the AIM chemo plan, a very aggressive chemotherapy treatment. He did one treatment at Balboa Hospital in San Diego before being sent home to continue his treatments at Pennsylvania Hospital.
“The team at Pennsylvania Hospital was amazing and always explained everything to all of us,” his sisters said.
Sadly, he passed away earlier this month. The draping of the charter took place three days later at Oxley, where his dad is vice commander and his mom is vice president of the Auxiliary.
The ceremony, attended by friends and neighbors of Finley and his family, was very touching. Bagpiper Ed Hays played Anchors Aweigh, while R.B. “Doc” Speight, chaplain for Juniata Park American Legion Post 738, offered prayer. Others in attendance included Patrick Love, American Legion eastern Pennsylvania vice commander.
“Patrick touched so many hearts in the world, and we didn’t even know until everyone started reaching out to us and it just showed the type of person he was,” his sisters said. “He was a hell of a baseball player and literally would go with his friends to random places at any time of the night no matter how long he worked just to spend time with them. He deserved so much in this world. In the 25 years he was here, everything was brighter.” ••
Donations in Patrick’s memory can be made to the Wounded Warrior Project (https://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/donate).
