Help Take Care of Pat Loftus

Growing up in Central Valley, NY, our childhood could almost be described as idyllic.  This was back before the Woodbury Commons was built, when there were very few traffic lights and Orange County had lots of open land.  Our close-knit neighborhood was a large playground where the games and adventures were endless: kickball, wiffle ball, manhunt, bike riding, playing in the woods, the list is endless and so are the memories.  Like many families in the neighborhood, the Loftus family had multiple children born within a close timespan (in our case, four children in six years).  We all had our unique talents and friends but our brother Patrick, or Pat as he was known, seemed to have more of everything.  Athletics came easy to him as did making friends and getting up to mischief.  His graduating yearbook summed it up: Pat was voted Most Popular, Best Looking and Homecoming King.

Those memories and the many happy ones that followed - especially marrying his wife Lauren, having three beautiful children (Shane, Conor and Meaghan) and a happy, welcoming home in Malvern, PA - are quickly fading from Pat.  As many people know, Pat was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease at age 47.  Anyone who has had any experience with Alzheimer’s, or any form of dementia, has seen what a cruel disease it is at any age.  When it strikes a man in the prime of his life with a wife and three adolescents, it’s beyond cruel…there are no words to describe it but it feels like your heart is continuously breaking.



The one bright light in all of this has been Pat’s wife Lauren and their children.  Lauren has been a rock over the last decade from when Pat’s symptoms first revealed themselves, through the painful diagnosis and the even more painful progression through the stages of Alzheimer’s.  While caring for Pat all of these years, Lauren also went back to school and earned her nursing degree and raised their three children into caring young adults.






Many people have asked us what they could do to help Pat. Until now, the best way to help was to visit and interact with him.  While Pat still loves to see friends and family, it is harder for him to communicate now and the financial burden of caring for Pat has become too much for Lauren and the family.  Pat is now in the late stage of the disease where he depends on others to help him complete all daily tasks.


Unfortunately, Pat has been removed from three assisted living facilities due to some aggressive behavior.  Due to this, Lauren had to quit her nursing job to care for him at home with occasional assistance from a home health care aide. Pat requires nearly 24-hour care and supervision. The cost of the home health care aide and Pat’s medications is $5,000 a month.  In addition, Pat and Lauren’s three children are all currently in college



For this reason, we wanted to start this GoFundMe page to help Pat, Lauren and their family.  We are not sure how much longer Pat will be with us on this earth but if he gets taken from us sooner then we’re planning for, any excess money that is raised by this campaign will be donated to the Alzheimer's Association.

Thank you in advance for anything you can contribute,

Carey, Stephanie and Tara (Patrick Loftus’ siblings)