In Memory: Patricia Agosta, Age 60
Patricia Agosta, a long time Rye resident, died much too soon on March 25, 2024 after a short illness at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan. Tricia (as she was known to her family and friends) was born on January 19, 1964, in White Plains and grew up in Purchase. She was one of six children of Anthony and Jacqueline Pasqualini.
After graduating from Our Lady of Good Counsel High School, Tricia obtained a B.S. in Biology from Union College and a J.D. from St. John’s University School of Law. Tricia pursued a variety of other activities while she was at Union, including dancing ballet and playing on the women’s rugby team. Although she had been a pre-med major in college, she decided to pursue a career in law focused on health care. Upon graduation from law school, Tricia became a patent lawyer focused on medical science and biotechnology. She was a member of the New York and Federal Patent bars. Among her many accomplishments as a patent lawyer, Tricia wrote the biotech patent for the first pediatric AIDS vaccine, the patent for a tuberculosis test using the genetic material of a firefly, which drastically reduced the waiting time for TB test results and the patent for an anti-AIDs treatment for latex gloves, which mitigated the risk that health workers would contract AIDs from infected needles.
In 1992, Tricia married her law school sweetheart, Steven Agosta. They were married for 31 wonderful years. The Agostas moved to Rye in 1993, where they raised their three children Jack, Mike and Lainie. Tricia retired from practicing law in order to devote herself to raising her children, but she continued to pursue a variety of activities with the enormous energy and drive that characterized her entire life. She had a particular interest in community service. She was closely involved with the Carver Center’s food pantry, the Rye Youth Council, Osborn School’s Holiday Angels and countless volunteering at Rye Presbyterian Nursery School, Osborne and Rye Middle and High Schools. She spent four years with the St. Ignatius charter school in the South Bronx tutoring middle school children for the New York City Catholic High School entrance exam.
After she had raised her children, Tricia changed careers and worked as a residential real estate broker for Douglas Elliman in Manhattan.
Notwithstanding her many other activities, Tricia was an enthusiastic traveler and an avid reader throughout her life. From 1991 onward, she was a member of a Manhattan-based book club of performing artists. She also played piano and spoke Italian. Although she often denied it, she was a great cook. She loved New York City and enjoyed going to the opera, the ballet, museums and other cultural institutions.
No words could possibly capture Tricia’s unique personality and effect on the people in her life. She approached life with boundless, dynamic energy. She may have invented the occupation of life coach – it was a role she played in so many of her friends’ lives. If Tricia was your friend, she was your closest advisor, confidante and protector. She treated her friends like family and her family like friends. Tricia had an operatic personality in the best sense of the word. Her arias were joyful tributes to her family, her friends, and her love of life. Those who knew her are devastated that the curtain has now fallen on her extraordinary life, but they will always remember the joy of her company.
Tricia is survived by her devoted husband Steven, her beloved children Jack (Nicole), Mike (Olivia), and Lainie (Jarrad), her parents Anthony and Jacqueline Pasqualini, her sisters Cara (Jeff) Macellaro and Laura (Peter) Prodzenko, her brothers Anthony (Leila), Thomas (Nancy), and David (Joann), her sister-in-law Maria (Paul) Licursi, brother-in-law Christopher (Donna) Agosta, numerous nieces and nephews and countless friends.
In lieu of flowers, donations in Patricia’s name can be made to the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation or the Mount Sinai Medical Center IBD Center.
