Patricia Agosta, a longtime resident of Rye, N.Y., died much too soon on March 25, 2024, after a short illness, at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan.
Tricia, as she was known, was born on Jan. 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, she went on to Union College, where she played on the women’s rugby team, danced ballet, and earned a B.S. in Biology. Although she was a pre-med student at Union, she decided to pursue a career in law focused on health care and earned a J.D. from St. John’s University School of Law.
As a patent lawyer, she focused on medical science and biotechnology. She was a member of the New York and Federal Patent bars. Among her many accomplishments were the biotech patent she wrote 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, she married her law school sweetheart, Steven Agosta. The following year, they moved to Rye.
After retiring from practicing law to devote herself to raising her three children, Tricia Agosta pursued a variety of community service activities with the enormous energy and drive that characterized her entire life.
She was closely involved with the Carver Center’s food pantry, the Rye Youth Council, and Osborn School’s Holiday Angels. She was a dedicated volunteer at the schools her children attended, from Rye Presbyterian Nursery School through Rye High School. 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 raising her children, Tricia Agosta returned to the workforce, but changed careers and became a residential real estate broker with Douglas Elliman in Manhattan.
Throughout her life, she was an enthusiastic traveler and an avid reader. 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, and museums.
“No words could possibly capture Tricia’s unique personality and effect on the people in her life,” said her family. “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.”
Tricia Agosta is survived by her devoted husband, Steven Agosta, with whom she shared 31 wonderful years; 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; her brother-in-law, Christopher (Donna) Agosta; and countless friends.
The family will receive friends at Graham Funeral Home on April 2 from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held April 3 at 10 a.m. at Church of the Resurrection.
Donations in Tricia Agosta’s memory can be made to the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation or the Mount Sinai IBD Center.
