Yesterday I was saddened to learn that Pat Colletta, who worked as a cashier in Pi Cafe, passed away on February 25 after more than 40 years of service at Wesleyan.
“I’m sorry to say the news is true, Pat Colletta is no longer with us,” wrote food services director Gary Kriksciun in an email to Wesleying. “She started with Wesleyan Dining Services in 1969. Of course, in that time Pat made many friends on campus. It’s hard to contemplate the tens of thousands of students, faculty and staff she interacted with over the years.”
According to Kriksciun, Pat was most recently a cashier at Pi but held many different job titles during her years at Wes. An obituary notes that she was 76 years old.
Kriksciun also sent the funeral arrangements for Pat, which appear on a sign in Pi. The funeral will take place tomorrow morning at St. Pius Church in Middletown.
“She was an incredibly sweet person and I’m sure I speak for everyone who has worked at Pi over the past few decades that she will be greatly missed,” commented Pi employee Sam Melvin ’13.
This is incredibly sad to hear. I worked at Pi all four of my years at Wes, and Pat was such a staple – dishing out bagels, making quirky quips, eating whip cream out of espresso cups.
Her presence was always very comforting. It will be very hard to know that I will not be able to say hi the next time I visit campus.
She also had a pretty impressive gymming routine down. And always told this funny story about how her husband loves shoes and has many pairs that she would nag at him to throw out. And she would comment on my earrings! And on some of the newfangled music (Moves Like Jagger, haha) playing on the radio.
:’)