December 6, 1921 – March 30, 2023
Mr. Pat DeRosa performed for many years from Manhattan to Montauk. He taught music in Huntington and South Huntington and in 2018 the Guinness Book of World Records named him the World’s Oldest Professional Saxophone Player. Additionally he received honors from the Long Island Hall of Fame and the South Huntington Hall of Fame.
Born in Brooklyn and raised in South Huntington, Pat picked up a saxophone in the Bowery with his mom at the age of 12. After High School, he worked at Grumman before he was drafted into WWII.
After the war, he played at The Latin Quarter and the Copacabana as well as other NYC clubs while attending the Manhattan School of Music where he received a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in English horn and Oboe. He played with Tommy Tucker, Tex Benecke and Glenn Miller while on the road. When he returned home, he was introduced to John Coltrane and they played duets together for three years.
Most recently he could be seen playing with his daughter, Patricia DeRosa Padden of Montauk, on piano and his granddaughter Nicole DeRosa Padden, also of Montauk, on vocals and flute as well as sitting in with numerous bands on the East End and Western Suffolk.
Pat retired from teaching in 1978 but his students continued to contact him often.
Mr. DeRosa and his wife Constance were married for 53 years. In addition to his daughter and his granddaughter he is survived by a son, William DeRosa, grandchildren William DeRosa Jr and Tracy Kraft as well as great-grandchildren Krista Schulman, Jacqueline DeRosa and Jayden Kraft. There will be a memorial tribute at the Montauk Music Festival in May and two Memorial Scholarship funds set up for High School Seniors to continue their studies in Music.
