Patrick Giles Cullen

Patrick (“Pat”) Giles Cullen, born August 3, 1938, in Brownsville, PA.

Pat passed away peacefully on June 12, 2021, at the age of 82.  He was preceded in death by his parents Earl and Dorothy Cullen.

He is survived by his loving wife of 60 years, Betty, and his three adoring children Debbie Cullen Anderson and her fiancé Roy Rathel Jr., Chuck and his wife Sophie, and Brian and his wife, Karen.  As a role model spouse, parent, and grandparent, Pat loved spending time and getting actively involved with all of the activities of his children and his grandchildren:  David Anderson, Lauren (Anderson) Remegi, and her husband Justin, Katie Cullen, Carolyn Cullen, Steven Cullen, and Amanda Cullen.

Pat met his wife Betty in the seventh grade at St. Bernadine’s and started “going steady” in their junior year of high school.  Pat graduated from Mount Saint Joseph high school in 1956 and Loyola College in 1960, where Pat was part of the ROTC program. In college, Pat played basketball and walked onto the lacrosse team with no prior experience playing lacrosse. After college, Pat was awarded a full scholarship to attend the University of Notre Dame Law School. He served on the Notre Dame Law Review and argued a finalist moot court case in front of Supreme Court Justice Byron White. Betty and Pat wereinseparable and married after Pat's first year at Notre Dame.

Pat practiced law with a stellar reputation for nearly 60 years.  First, he served as an officer in the Army’s Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps, stationed at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, from 1964-1966.  In this role, Pat served as a defense lawyer for one trial and was quickly moved to prosecution after securing an acquittal for his first defense client.  He then practiced law in Baltimore for 55 years, with most of his career spent as a trial lawyer handling insurance defense cases at Rollins, Smalkin, Richards, and Mackie.

An active member of St. Mark parish for over 50 years, Pat served in many roles, including School Board member and President, lector, and eucharistic minister.   Pat enjoyed giving to others throughout his life in a very caring way.  In March of 2011, he founded a charity, YouTooCan, focused on enhancing parental engagement and other programs to help children in Baltimore City learn how to read.  The charity served the community and honored his parents, who were Baltimore City Public School teachers.  Throughout his career, Pat provided pro bono legal services.

Pat was an avid and competitive sportsman.  He enjoyed spending time with family and friends, participating for years in recreational softball and flag football teams, playing golf, tennis, and various other sports and physical activities.  He was an avid runner for years with the Howard County Striders and ran his first marathon at age 42. In addition, Betty and Pat enjoyed ballroom dancing together, achieving a high skill level, and seeing their golden retrievers compete in regional dog shows.  In recent years, Pat participated in what he called the “old geezer’s” golf league at Mount Pleasant and played many rounds with his family and friends--routinely negotiating for “strokes” on the first tee.

Always a wonderful husband, father, grandfather, friend, and contributor to society, he will be dearly missed.

In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that donations be made to St. Mark's Catholic Church, 30 Melvin Avenue Catonsville, MD 21228