Patrick Lee Lauderdale

Patrick Lee Lauderdale (Pat Lauderdale) passed away on Monday, November 6, 2023 at age 79, surrounded by his loving family. He was born on October 19, 1944 in Hobart, Comanche county, Oklahoma. Pat was a dedicated scholar, athlete, friend, husband and father.

After graduating from Cache High School, Pat attended Cameron State Junior Agricultural College as a scholar/athlete, playing football. He went on to receive his BA from the University of Oklahoma, an MS from the University of Texas and an MA and Ph.D. in the sociology of law from Stanford University. All the while, he continued an active lifestyle playing the sports he loved, football and rugby as well as becoming the national president of the Phi Theta Kappa Honorary Society and recipient of the Woodrow Wilson scholarship. Pat taught at the University of California, Santa Cruz and later at the University of Minnesota. In 1981, he accepted a full professor position at Arizona State University in Tempe and was on the faculty for over 40 years. Pat collaborated in creating the nation’s first university-wide Ph.D./J.D. program in justice studies, law, and the social sciences, and also served as its director. At ASU, Pat met his spouse of 37 years, Annamaria Oliverio. Together, they conducted research and wrote articles and books. In the 1980s, he further helped create the Herbert Blumer Institute in Costa Rica, which maintains the goal of discovering and describing alternatives to violence and criminal law.

Pat’s research on the relationship between social deviance, law and diversity is recognized internationally. His book Law and Society (with James Inverarity and Barry Feld) has been translated into Japanese and related research on the political analysis of deviance has been published in Spanish, German, and Italian. He has received Fulbright Research Fellowships to Costa Rica and Austria. He’s been a visiting scholar and professor at the University of Lecce, Italy, the University of Austria, and Stanford University. In 2007, he received an invitation to be a Fulbright Senior Specialist for a research project on "Indigenous peoples, minorities and globalization," Department of Sociology and UNISA Press, University of South Africa. Pat’s teaching was symbiotic with his research interests including political analyses of deviance/diversity, global indigenous struggles and jurisprudence, law and social science, inequity, political trials, hegemony and world systems: global justice/injustice. He enjoyed mentoring students and received awards not only for his scholarship but also for his teaching/mentoring. He maintained contact with former students long after they graduated. Pat created and maintained many lasting friendships over the years not only through work but also through his continued participation in sports including basketball, volleyball and swimming.

Pat loved his family and felt very blessed to be a husband, father and grandfather. He was also very proud of his extended family in the United States and Italy. But most of all, Pat always carried his childhood home, Cache, in Comanche county Oklahoma, close to his heart. He regularly spent time with his childhood friends, enjoying the wildlife refuge outside the home where he grew up. His final wish was to have his ashes scattered where he and his father would spend time fishing, his favorite of all activities. He will rejoin his father and mother in the land he loved deeply.

His memory will be cherished by his wife, Annamaria Oliverio, two daughters, Daniela and Patricia and son, Tommie Elijah, two sons-in law, Sean and Michael and two grandchildren, Patrick and a little girl due to be born in a few weeks. He was beloved by immediate and extended family as well as devoted friends.

There will be a “Celebration of Life” memorial at Arizona State University, February 2, 2024 (4:30pm to 6:30pm) and a Graduate memorial scholarship dedicated in his name to which contributions are appreciated in lieu of flowers. Please contact [email protected] for further information and updates.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.greenacresmortuary.net for the Lauderdale family.