Patrick Scott Bruington Obituary (1955

Pat was the youngest of four boys growing up in Southern California in the '60's. As the youngest of 4 Pat had his work cut out for him. Finding his own identity wasnt so easy. He played sax when the others formed a band, he played ball when we were all on teams - but his real talent, as we found out later, was as a Poter, ceramics. WOW, he made some of the most beautiful pots we'd ever seen. Dont know how but he did - but this was real talent...artistically speaking. But Pat was also a kind, gentle, stuborn, funny, articluate and a very caring person. He had strong opinions for sure but was able to listen and connected so well with just about everyone. In 1973 Pat graduated from Eisenhower High School in Rialto, CA. He had many friends and loved the girls. Out of High school, he worked for the County of San Bernardino for several years and then found an opportunity up in Lake Tahoe, Nevada working for Harrah's Casino. So he packed up and left for Harrah's. These were the boom years for the industry and Pat grew in responsibility, becoming a Poker and games dealer for Harrah's. He had several "celebrity" clients including Bill Cosby. He would share how much money was 'dropped' during these games. He loved the job and Lake Tahoe. He loved music and bands and funk music like "Tower of Power" and Jazz. He collected albums, CD's and was well read. He would complain about the sorry condition of "todays" music but knew talent when he heard it. He would be sure to catch the acts when they performed there in town. Life was good for this single young man. We all missed Pat and in 1980 he planned a trip down to visit us in Southern California. We were real excited to see out little brother. Driving down the "hill" after work he fell asleep, drove off the side of the road. He was thrown from the car and had splinters in his body from hitting a Telephone pole. A woman who had been driving behind him saw it all happen, stopped and called for help. She was a nurse and had she not seen him he probably would have died. I'll never forget hearing the news. He had been taken to a Hospital in Bishop. The entire family made it up there and I wont even explain the condition he was in. The Dr said he was lucky to be alive, that he had broken his back and would probably been in a chair for the rest of his life. He was 25 yrs old. Months of therapy in So California allowed us to be with him. Pat eventually returned to Lake Tahoe, chair and all. I took him back as he wanted to go home, to Tahoe. I'll never forget the trip - we had a blast. He was in good spirits and was dealing with his handicap as good as anyone can. He would shovel snow, hurting his right arm to the point where he was told he'd require surgery. He never did, he just dealt with it. We had a family reunion in 1987. He found the perfect place for us and it was a wonderful time. He returned to Harrah's and then after many years he said that "the industry changed" so Pat "retired". Although he lived in a few different place through out the years, he finally found a room over looking the Lake at a house he shared with a friend, Mike Frost. That was about 1997. Although we talked often about him coming back down south to where we could all be with him, he just couldn't bring himself to move. He loved Tahoe and that was that. Every conversation we had, he'd mention missing everyone but he had his little piece of paradise and just couldn't imagine leaving. He never did. He lived and died in his little paradise - South Lake Tahoe. Overlooking the beauty outside his window; the Lake and mountain he called home.