Port Authority driver who died of covid remembered as ‘a ray of sunshine’
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The father of a Port Authority driver who died of covid-19 wants his son to be remembered as more than another statistic.
Patrick Hazlett, 34, of Plum died Monday after a 10-day battle with the illness. Hazlett, who worked at the Port Authority for eight years, is one of two Port Authority drivers who died recently from the disease.
Before a funeral service Friday morning, Hazlett’s father, Tom Hazlett, remembered his son as a kind and generous man.
“Patrick was a very kindhearted, giving man. He would give to you and go without,” Tom Hazlett said of his son.
The funeral procession for Port Authority driver Patrick Hazlett, led by Pittsburgh police, Port Authority police, and a bus bearing his name, departed Burket-Truby Funeral Home, heading to Pine Creek Cemetery. Hazlett died of covid-19. pic.twitter.com/FLhLQ9S4Ap
— Julia Felton (@JuliaFelton16) December 11, 2020
Tom and Patrick Hazlett both worked for the Port Authority. They loved working together, and they often had long conversations about their work.
Patrick Hazlett was an avid sportsman who loved hunting and fishing with his brothers, his father said.
Most of all, he said, his son loved his wife, Darrah, and four children.
After a private service at Burket-Truby Funeral Home in Oakmont, a procession guided Hazlett to Plum Creek Cemetery. Port Authority and Pittsburgh police cruisers escorted a long line of Hazlett’s family and friends. Dozens of loved ones, including fellow Port Authority employees, gathered to pay their respects.
Patrick Hazlett’s death has devastated the whole family, and the Port Authority community has rallied behind them, Tom Hazlett said. He reflected on the strength and courage he remembered seeing in his son’s final days as he battled the illness.
“He fought until the bitter end,” Tom Hazlett said. “He never once gave up. We’re very proud of him.”
His family is finding solace in the outpouring of love and support from the community, and fellow Port Authority workers in particular, Tom Hazlett said.
Before the funeral procession, Mary Anne Schallus and Steve Eisel, Port Authority workers who knew Hazlett well, affixed photos of Hazlett to the front of a Port Authority bus, which scrolled his name across its screens.
“He’s not a number. He’s a ray of sunshine. His smile lit up the whole garage,” said Schallus, who worked in the Collier garage with Hazlett.
A Go Fund Me account called Hope for the Hazlett Family has been organized to support his family.
“There’s been a tremendous outpouring,” Tom Hazlett said. “Everybody has been extremely supportive.”