We are Saddened to Announce the Passing of Patrick J. Dempsey, Co-Founder of Dempsey Uniform & Linen Supply.

Pat concluded his legacy-filled life at age 91 on Sunday, January 5th, 2025, surrounded by his loving family. He was preceded in death by his wife of 55 years, Karen Bewick Dempsey, who died in June 2024.

Born in Scranton on December 22, 1933, Pat was the second of four sons of James G. and Mary “Mae” Walsh Dempsey. He attended St. Mary of Mt. Carmel grade school in Dunmore and graduated in 1951 from St. Paul High School in Scranton. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering from Lehigh University, where he was president of the Beta Epsilon chapter of Alpha Sigma Phi Social Fraternity. In 1966, he received a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Scranton.

Pat served in the United States Army, stationed at the Redstone and Frankford Arsenals. At Redstone, he worked in the electrical engineering section of the Fabrication Laboratory on the Jupiter Guided Missile Project, which was under the civil supervision of the renowned V-2 guided missile expert, Wernher Von Braun.

In 1955, before his military service, Pat studied at the American Institute of Laundry Management in Joliet, IL, preparing for his first step into the laundry industry as a production supervisor at Mother’s Laundry in Dunmore.

In October 1958, Pat and his brother, Dick, began constructing Dempsey Linen Supply on Clay Avenue in Dunmore. They opened for business on August 10, 1959, with only one delivery route and four employees. Today, Dempsey Uniform & Linen Supply services six states and employs almost five hundred people. It is run by Pat’s son, PJ, and daughter, Kristin, with all of his children proudly connected to the business.

Long active in his industry, Pat served for several years on the Board of Directors of the Textile Rental Services Association (TRSA) and he chaired several committees that developed seminal training material for the industry. He was also Chairman of the Board of CSC, a national network of independent laundries, and a founding member of the National Management Bureau. Pat believed “no one has a lock on knowledge” and toured over 150 plants worldwide to learn, and then shared the knowledge he gained. He received his industry’s highest and most prestigious honor, the TRSA Lifetime Achievement Award, in 2011.

In 1985, Pat was elected to the board of directors at Fidelity Deposit and Discount Bank in Dunmore, serving as an interim CEO and President in 2010. He served as Chairman of the Board from 2005 to 2018, successfully leading Fidelity through the Great Recession and its listing on NASDAQ.

Pat was always committed to serving and giving back to his community. He served as a member of the Lackawanna County Regional Planning Commission for nearly 50 years, holding the position of Chairman for 39 of those years. He was also chairman of both the Dunmore Zoning Board and the Dunmore Planning Commission.

Locally, he was honored by the Northeast Council of Boy Scouts of America with their Distinguished Citizen Award in 2013 and was named the Junior Achievement Entrepreneur of the Year in 2014. A devout Catholic, Pat was a lifelong member of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish in Dunmore and a past member of Cursillo. He received the Holy Name Society’s Annual Memorial Award in 2015.

Pat was a seanchai, an Irish storyteller and oral historian, in both his community and his industry. He shared Dunmore history, including everyone’s childhood nickname, and knew the story of family laundries across the United States and how the industry evolved. His stories often taught lessons to his family members or employees who had the patience and sense to listen closely. His famous quotes, like “pennies in a jar,” continue their oral journey at Dempsey Uniform.

Pat brought each of his children to the former family plot in Ireland, the old sod, so they could understand their roots and how far their family had come in life. He lived the priorities he passed on to them: family, faith, education, and hard work. He could fix anything, from an open pocket washer/extractor at the plant to a Maytag in the basement. He shared his love of trapshooting with his brother Jim, and his passion for landscaping with his children, his first grounds crew.

Pat lived the last eleven years with grace, vigor, and dignity, despite his battle with Parkinson’s disease. Cherishing his memory are six children and 14 grandchildren.