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Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Teammates remember McDonald

For the past four years, Patrick McDonald spent part of his spare time as a member of the Philadelphia Blue Flame, a police football team that plays other big city police and fire department squads to raise money for charities.

The former standout at Archbishop Ryan fit right in with tough cops on the team. "He was as intense as they come, hard-nosed with a desire to succeed and win every time he stepped on the field," said Mike McKay, the coach of the Blue Flame.

McDonald's high point on the team came about three years ago, when he scored an 18-yard rushing touchdown against a team of Los Angeles police officers during a game in Northeast Philadelphia. "Man, he was thrilled that day," McKay said. The coach said McDonald and his girlfriend, Joanne Heary, a police officer assigned to the 15th District in Northeast Philadelphia, often took opposing team members out to dinner after a game. "She went to every one of his games and followed us when we went to different cities," McKay said. "They were a great couple." 

Joe Hansbury, a veteran cop assigned to the 8th District in the far Northeast, played alongside McDonald on the Blue Flame. "Everyone liked to be around him. We love him and we miss him. This whole thing is horrible, and it makes everyone sick to their stomach," he said. "He was always there for us." 

 

"When you think about what these guys do everyday and the dangers they face, it's just brutal," McKay added.

McDonald will be laid to rest Tuesday at Resurrection Cemetery in Bensalem after a funeral mass at the Cathedral Basilica of Ss. Peter and Paul.

Posted by David Gambacorta @ 10:53 PM  Permalink | 1 comment
Comments   
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 9:48 AM, 09/25/2008
    The city of philadelphia and the whole world will miss what Patrick McDonald could have done, would have done. God Bless his family! May they find some peace in honoring his Life.
    — myo666


1 comments
About The PhillyConfidential team

Dana DiFilippo has covered murder, mayhem and miscellany at the Daily News since 2000. She grew up in Delaware County and studied journalism and photography at Penn State University. E-mail tips to difilid@phillynews.com.

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Stephanie Farr has been reporting for the Daily News since 2007, covering everything from gay porn stars who entered the burglary business to moon trees, skinheads, murders and naked bike rides. She covers crime, both in the city and suburbs, and keeps clippings of bizarre Associated Press articles. Her favorite this year was the story about the drunk in Punxsutawney who gave mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to a dead opossum. E-mail tips to farrs@phillynews.com.

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Phillip Lucas joined the Daily News crime team in 2011. He grew up on the mean streets of Seattle and studied journalism and psychology at Howard University in Washington, D.C. Before landing in the City of Brotherly Love, Phillip was a reporter for The News Journal in Wilmington, Del. Email tips to lucasp@phillynews.com.

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Morgan Zalot is the newest crime reporter at the Daily News, starting in 2011 after interning at the paper twice as a Temple University journalism student. In her past stints at the DN, she covered just about everything, from drunken Phillies fans to a barber shop in a high school to a grisly murder-suicide. She’s a born-and-raised Philly girl who grew up in the Northeast. E-mail tips to zalotm@philly.com.

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