Pat Harrington Jr. as “Schneider” on “One Day At A Time” on CBS, 1980
Update, January 7, 2016: Pat Harrington Jr. passed away on January 6 at the age of 86.
Previous story from November 29, 2015:
Just about all of us who’ve been around a while have an Alzheimer’s connection. I’ve written about the victims, the caregivers, and my own mother, who coped with it in her own cheerful way for the last several years of her life.
While reading the blog of Mark Evanier, a writer I admire greatly, I learned that actor Pat Harrington Jr., now 86 has Alzheimer’s. According to a Facebook post from his daughter Tresa, he’s in the final stages. Evidently, he had been in a gradual decline, which accelerated after a recent fall.
If you’re a fan of old TV and movies, you recognize his face. He was in a ton of shows, but he’s best known as the building superintendent on the CBS sitcom “One Day at a Time,” which ran for many years in the 70s and 80s. He got most of the funny lines, and delivered them very well.
Even with that quick wit, Alzheimer’s plays no favorites. From presidents to paupers, it knows no boundaries. Here is the sweet message from Pat’s daughter, letting his friends and fans know why they won’t be seeing her dad out and about any more:
“It is with a broken heart that my father is succumbing to Alzheimer’s. After falling three weeks ago, a small hemorrhage in his brain, and three weeks of hospital/nursing home, he is mentally and physically disintegrating. I weep, knowing he is not long on this earthly plane; cussing at him today to get him to open his mouth to eat the pureed food, as his swallowing mechanism isn’t functioning so well, but then alas, he opens his mouth for ice cream…
I break down, laying my head on his chest, and the first sign of recognition, as he places he hand behind my head, to comfort me. He wanted to ease my pain. I pray that whatever happens, in the next days or weeks, that it is for the best. I love you, daddy!!!”
If you’ve “been there,” you know how she feels. If you haven’t, please support more research and attention to this disease, which takes so much from its victims and their caregivers.
My Dad has unspecified dementia……….he had a stroke and thanks to my mothers revenge for a not so great marriage, she would not authorize therapy when he had enuf strength still on his right side – he is a WWII Navy Veteran….Joseph Walter Berdechowski and has languished for almost 4 yrs now in the Heron Pointe Nursing Home of Brooksville, Fl – my mother has taken away his hearing aides so that his dementia gets worse………the VA does nothing…….the state of Florida does not care…….it is not a nursing home……..it is a storage unit for the elderly………it is sad and horrible and where is this Almighty God to let these suffer so while those who are supposed to care do nothing………..there is not one nurse in the place who even knows what the OBRA legislation was……..
love mr. pat watched him on make room for daddy & of course one day & for many yrs. I believe he was the voice of the valasic pelican, what a great actor & so sad
In our family it’s early onset Alzheimer’s my dad and his brother inherited the gene they got the disease in their early forties and fifties,there are many thru out history I got 3 cousins now in 40 and 50, I am currently in a study for the disease, I have the gene but not the symptoms and I am 49, it is painful to watch especially those close to you get this disease, prayers to end this fight and yes Snyder was one of my favorites
David, so sorry you had to experience the protracted heartbreak that is Alzheimer’s. I enjoyed reading about your mother who was such a fine woman. Don’t know whose suffering is greater: the victim or his/her loved ones.
Yes I watched him on many shows. This disease is so, so sad. It’s almost like losing your loved ones twice as they begin to forget you. David, thank you for sharing your loss as well, and everyone please keep doing what you can to support research for this dreadful disease.
As always, I enjoy your posts. Pat Harrington gave us many laughs and my heart breaks for his daughter. Thank you for always reminding us of the human side of celebrities and how fragile life can be. We all need to be thankful for the time we have with our loved ones!
My dear sweet mother spent the last ten years of her life not knowing her own children. My brother, sister and I were able to have one of us with her everyday at the nursing home. It it so sad for all concerned. She didn’t know us but we sure knew her and the love she had given us over the years. It is my prayer the they find a way to cure or control this hideous disease.