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A Pleasanton couple in their 90s died from injuries sustained after their vehicle crashed through an Interstate 580 interchange and landed perpendicular to the ground last month, the Weekly has learned.
Joan and Joseph Patti, who lived in the Stoneridge Creek senior community for years in retirement, were remembered for “always fostering connection and joy” in a family obituary online.
“Joan was known for her warmth, wit, and charm – a natural conversationalist who could light up any room. Joe, quieter by nature, was equally beloved for his kindness, humility, and steady presence,” the obituary stated. “Together, they were a perfect complement.”
The couple, who first met in high school in Massachusetts and were married for nearly 70 years, are survived by four children and 12 grandchildren. Their son Christopher Patti, a prominent attorney in Berkeley, was killed in a hit-and-run while bicycling in Sonoma County in 2017 – a story that made regional headlines at the time.
The crash blocks away from Stoneridge Creek on Sept. 25 that ultimately claimed the lives of Joe and Joan Patti was not publicly reported in detail by Dublin Police Services until the Pleasanton Weekly inquired Tuesday.
DPS deputies responded to the intersection of Fallon Road and I-580 for a single-vehicle crash just before 1:30 p.m. that day, with California Highway Patrol and Pleasanton Police Department officers already at the scene, according to Capt. Miguel Campos. Dublin police ultimately took jurisdictional oversight of the accident at the freeway interchange near the cities’ borders.
The initial investigation revealed the Pattis’ vehicle exited westbound I-580 and was making a left turn onto southbound Fallon Road toward the overpass headed to Pleasanton, but the vehicle failed to complete the turn and hit the western curbline of Fallon Road, Campos said.
“The vehicle drove down the grassy easement and flipped forward in the drainage ditch just prior to striking the westbound I-580 wall,” Campos told the Weekly. “The vehicle came to rest perpendicular to the ground with the front of the vehicle in the ground and the roof smashed against the concrete wall.”
Emergency personnel extricated Joe Patti, who was the driver, and passenger Joan Patti from the vehicle that was up against the concrete wall on the north edge of the freeway and transported the critically injured couple to Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley, the captain said.
Joan Patti, 92, was pronounced dead that afternoon. Joe Patti, 91, died at the hospital two nights later, on Sept. 27, according to the Alameda County Coroner’s Bureau.
The cause of the crash has not yet been confirmed, and the circumstances remain under investigation by the DPS traffic unit, according to Campos.
The family’s obituary, which referenced the crash, remembered the Pattis’ “lifelong love story” that began at Revere High School in suburban Boston and “blossomed into a rich partnership filled with devotion, family, and shared purpose”.
After college, Joe Patti served in the U.S. Marine Corps before a long career in the federal government that moved the family across different parts of the country before he ultimately became western regional director for the Office of Personnel Management, according to the obit. Joan Patti was a public school teacher and church organist.
“They created a home filled with love, music and laughter” while raising their five children, the obituary stated.
The Pattis relocated to Pleasanton in their later years, becoming “vibrant and beloved members” of the Stoneridge Creek senior community, according to the obit. Among their many activities there, Joe Patti was a leader in the Italian club and managed the bocce team and Joan Patti sang in the choir and played bridge and bocce.
They are survived by their children Susan Lewis and Jennifer Duffy, both of Colorado, John Patti in Massachusetts and Steven Patti, who lives in Mill Valley, their 12 grandchildren and “a wide circle of extended family and dear friends whose lives they deeply touched”, the obituary stated.
Their late son Chris Patti, who worked as chief campus counsel for the University of California at Berkeley, died Aug. 27, 2017 after being hit by a driver while stopped roadside while cycling on Highway 116 west of Guerneville, SF Gate reported at the time. Chris Patti was 59.
A celebration of life for Joe and Joan Patti will be scheduled at a later date, according to the family.
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