Pat Child

Pat Child passed away earlier today. I knew something was up when I walked into the newsroom and saw Ann hugging Tim Clune, both of them teary.

He was diagnosed with brain cancer a few months ago. I expected Pat to tell the cancer to screw itself and then get on with his life. He said he didn’t want to suffer thorough treatment – but he did. Life is too precious to give up easily.

Recently he had been in and out of the hospital. As fluid in his brain built up, Pat would suffer only to come back when the pressure was relieved. Today he died at the hospital in Venice, Florida.

Most likely, you didn’t know Pat Child. He was worth knowing.

I first met Pat when I went to work for WTNH in 1984. Even then Pat was a grizzled photographer, wiser by far than any of the kid reporters he worked with.

I will always picture him with a cigarette hanging from his lips or between his stained fingers. Back then we could smoke in the station, in the news vehicles, everywhere. Pat took advantage.

Pat was not an artist with his camera. His shots shook. He never used a tripod.

I remember shooting a piece in my Mr. Science series and being assigned Pat. Right away he let me know this wasn’t his type of assignment. He started by calling me Geoffrey. He was a spot news kind of guy. He would do his best… but, you know…

On our way back the assignment desk called. There had been a shooting in New Haven. Could we stop by and get video. Though I am the weatherman, that afternoon I became a reporter for a few moments. That impressed Pat and we were friends from that day on.

Friendship with Pat was totally built on mutual respect.

So, why is a news photographer who wasn’t the world’s greatest photographer so important, so memorable? Pat was one of the brightest and certainly wisest men I’ve ever met. Pat was honest – maybe honest to a fault.

Though a scholarship recipient at Yale, he left early and headed to the Air Force where he shot the early days of the space program on film. I can’t imagine Pat in the Air Force. He was too opinionated and willing to confront authority. Actually, I can’t imagine Pat as a Yale graduate either. Their diploma would have lessened his obvious street smarts.

He came to work at the TV station in the early days of local news. It was a less sophisticated, less slick era of television.

When you were with Pat, you couldn’t let something slide. He was too smart to let you. If he liked you, and I think (and hope) he liked me, he would save your butt by being insightful at a time you thought he wasn’t even paying attention.

You could go to Pat and ask him about any event we’d ever covered (and many we hadn’t) and he would know all about it. He would point you in the right direction. He might even add things you hadn’t thought of including. And he would do it all from the perspective of the intellectual he was – a label I’m sure he’d find objectionable.

As Pat got older, and the run and gun life of a photographer lost his luster, he became a satellite truck operator. Working with Pat was like money in the bank.

He didn’t seem like the type who would ever retire, and yet after 38 years at the station, he did.

Friends threw Pat a spectacular going away party at the Rusty Scupper. I was astounded by all the important and talented people who came back to Connecticut to remember Pat. Others who couldn’t make it, sent back videotaped tributes.

It was a once in a lifetime event for two reasons. First, Pat’s retirement marked the end of one era of television. I don’t know if it was a better era, but it was different. Pat Child represented much of what was good about it.

Second, I have never felt so much love for one man in one room. That was astounding.

Tonight, I feel sad for Pat’s kids, his wife Kim (who also worked here for years) and his identical twin brother Bob. I feel sadder for those who didn’t get to share a little of Pat’s life. He was an exceptional man. He has touched me deeply. I will remember him forever.

I told former Channel 8 reporter, and longtime WNBC anchor, Sue Simmons about Pat here’s what she had to say


hi geoff,

thank you so much for letting me know about pat child. he was VERY helpful to me when i was a young STRUGGLING reporter. i came to channel 8 with no experience…straight out of the secretarial desk. i had no idea about affirmative action and all of that….i had incredibly good timing. pat and everyone else knew i was a token hire, but they were all so supportive. particularly the photographers.

so, it was MY pleasure to honor pat by coming to his party. and, may i say i felt very comfortable in a strangely familiar atmosphere. afterall it had been 30-years or so. I was at wtnh in ’72-’74. i even found myself daydreaming about what things would’ve been like if WTNH had given me an anchor job and i stayed for all these years. i thought maybe i’d have a big ole house in branford or some shoretown. i know i’d have been happy. i was thrilled to get the job back then really didn’t know about the moving around from market to market ‘game.’ but, as the afternoon went by and i had to leave, i snapped myself back into reality and drove back to new york feeling wonderful. i’d said my hellos to some old friends.

even though i didn’t really get a chance to talk at length with pat, i was so glad to see him…and be reminded of what a really special fellow he was. i loved seeing how many people’s lives he’d touched thru the years. i’d forgotten what a sweet curmudgen he was and i’m always attracted to that type of person. the one who dares to say what they think. he was SO smart and talented. i’ll miss him too!

thanks again for letting me know that my visit meant something to him. it certainly meant alot to me.

love, sue

5 thoughts on “Pat Child”

  1. As a long time WTNH watcher, I feel like you all are family…..

    I got to know Pat Child through a totally different avenue…through music. I met Pat at the Branford Town Band. I am a trumpet player there and met Pat in rehearsal there. I also met his brother, Bob….both guys are Aces in my book!

    As time went on, we got to know each other very well and then formed a quartet in my home church along with another gentleman and we became known as The Immanuel Brass from Immanuel Lutheran Church from Meriden, CT. We played for Reformation Sunday, Christmas and Easter many times….along with some special times that Pat wanted to play.

    Even though he did not graduate from Yale, his musical smarts and musicality were just amazing! He taught me, mentored me and helped through a difficult time when I went through my divorce. We four played some terrific music that Pat had in his “Pat Child Music Library”. He was always a professional at what he did. I learned so much about playing trumpet from him; it shows today, still, and I will always remember him and be thankful that I had the chance to know him. I will miss him so very much.

    I can just imagine that Pat now is giving trumpet lessons to Gabriel!!

    Al Trapani

  2. Geoff:

    As you know, Pat Child was the ultimate newsman.

    He was tough and rough on the outside, gentle and caring on the inside. His toughness was often an outward expression of how much he cared about people. Professionally, this behavior was mostly exhibited with young and inexperienced reporters, photographers and producers. He was very rigid in his expectations – the intent being to help people learn and improve, to achieve their goals and fulfill their dreams.

    Lord knows, there are scores of people who passed through WTNH-TV who are beneficiaries of Pat’s knowledge. He was a teacher, an educator, who asked for absolutely nothing in return. The joy for Pat was in watching someone grow and move on to bigger and better things.

    In fact, I cannot recall a moment when Pat was concerned about himself. Time and again he put himself in harm’s way to capture “The Story” for his viewers.

    I do not believe Pat’s passing is the end of an era. To the contrary, I believe the ‘Pat Child Era’ is being carried on by all those to whom he imparted his values and ethics. Pat’s legacy is a living thing.

    Pat Child, the man, will be missed by all who knew him. But Pat Child the newsman is still on the job – getting “The Story”…getting it right…making it on deadline…teaching others who are entering the business – inside all of his pupils who are now working in dozens of television markets across America.

    As Pat would say, “Got it. We’re done. What’s next?”

  3. I just want to say “Thank you” to everyone that knew him. Thank you all for remembering him the way you do. Indeed, he touched a lot of lives including mine, his son.

    When I was a young boy, he used to take me to the football games that he shot coaching films for. One day, he put a handheld 16mm camera in my hands and said “Follow the ball”. I felt just like him, standing there side by side. When we got the film back from the lab, we both looked at it and he complimented me on the job I did and gave me some tips on doing it better. Little did I know just how much that helped.

    Later on, in my high school days, I had wanted to play football. When I brought this to his attention, he said no because he was afraid I would get hurt. But then he told me I could get as close to the game as I could. I brought up the idea of doing video to the coach of the freshman team and showed him the film I had done when I was younger. I started to feel just like him, making sure I could get the shots right and did it. I had also done some video for the varsity team which included a scrimmage inwhich I caught a particular play that was instrumental in a lawsuit.

    My father taught me that if there was something that I felt I could not do, but wanted something so badly, to go and get as close as possible. This was instrumental not only in what I did in high school, but afterwards as well. I could not fly in the service, but I got as close to it, and still got to fly. There were a lot of things that I could not do, but with the same tenacity got as close as possible.

    I remember the day after I got back to Wallingford from a roadtrip I had taken on foot around the country. I was exhausted, and mentally worn down. Before he went to bed, he looked at me and said that he was glad that I was home. And then he told me how proud he was of me and that what I had done, although it had worried him, was something that he could never have done and survived. There was many a time, when I was coming apart that he would tell me this and it gave me strength. It is something that I will never forget for as long as I live.

    As I read some of the postings, I see he has done this with those he has come into contact with. I see the strength that he has passed on to others. I know he will live on through you as well as me……and keep the strength alive.

    For all of those that will attend the memorial service on the 8th of January, and even those who cannot, remember him that day and may you draw strength one last time and keep him alive in your hearts and minds. I know I will.

  4. To all who braved terrible weather to come to my brother, Pat’s, memorial service, a heartfelt THANK YOU.

    He was indeed someone special and would have been very happy to not only see the turnout, but also to have seen so many old friends, some going back to our childhood days.

    He touched the lives of every one of us in many different ways and will not be forgotten by any of us, whether the people of the television world, the dog world or the music world.

    His wife, son, daughters and also his brother will never forget him nor will his friends.

    So, to repeat my remarks of Saturday, dear brother,”I’ll meet you at the end”

    Bob Child III

  5. To all who braved terrible weather to come to my brother, Pat’s, memorial service, a heartfelt THANK YOU.

    He was indeed someone special and would have been very happy to not only see the turnout, but also to have seen so many old friends, some going back to our childhood days.

    He touched the lives of every one of us in many different ways and will not be forgotten by any of us, whether the people of the television world, the dog world or the music world.

    His wife, son, daughters and also his brother will never forget him nor will his friends.

    So, to repeat my remarks of Saturday, dear brother,”I’ll meet you at the end”

    Bob Child III

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