# Patton Oswalt's wife found dead at 46. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 23, 2016, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patton-oswalts-wife-found-dead-at-46/752860 "2016-04-23T02:07:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2016, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patton-oswalts-wife-found-dead-at-46/752860/1 "2016-04-23T02:07:15Z")
Poor Patton. I really like him and this is a huge shock. Michelle McNamara was only 46. She died in her sleep. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2016, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patton-oswalts-wife-found-dead-at-46/752860/2 "2016-04-23T02:13:07Z")
Shitty. Another big Patton fan - hoping friends are rallying around him. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2016, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patton-oswalts-wife-found-dead-at-46/752860/3 "2016-04-23T03:08:47Z")
Holy crap. They have a young daughter too, right? How terrible. ---
**Author:** ![drm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@drm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drm)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2016, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patton-oswalts-wife-found-dead-at-46/752860/4 "2016-04-23T03:22:25Z")
Heartbreaking. I don’t know Patton personally at all, but I’m a huge fan of his comedy. Based on that, he seemed to love her very much…or that’s what I always felt while listening to it. The death of loved ones of celebrities I’m a fan of is more upsetting to me than the celebrities themselves. intellectually I know why but am having trouble articulating. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2016, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patton-oswalts-wife-found-dead-at-46/752860/5 "2016-04-23T11:24:56Z")
His new Netflix special hit the same day, too. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2016, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patton-oswalts-wife-found-dead-at-46/752860/6 "2016-04-23T11:34:37Z")
Wow. My brother knows Patton Oswalt (bro is a CGI tech who works in Hollywood). It’s still 4:30am in LA. Wonder if my brother knows when did this happen? ---
**Author:** ![shantih](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f6c823/32.png) [@shantih](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shantih)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2016, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patton-oswalts-wife-found-dead-at-46/752860/7 "2016-04-23T12:14:23Z")
Ach, what a terrible thing. Poor Patton. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2016, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patton-oswalts-wife-found-dead-at-46/752860/8 "2016-04-23T14:32:31Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > Holy crap. They have a young daughter too, right? How terrible. Yeah. I watched his Netflix special yesterday and a lot of it revolved around his 6 yr old daughter. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2016, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patton-oswalts-wife-found-dead-at-46/752860/9 "2016-04-23T14:34:35Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > Yeah. I watched his Netflix special yesterday and a lot of it revolved around his 6 yr old daughter. Watching it now. I can’t help but wonder if he has a funny ring tone and received the news on his cell. ---
**Author:** ![Fair\_Rarity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fair_rarity/32/153_2.png) [@Fair\_Rarity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fair_Rarity)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2016, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patton-oswalts-wife-found-dead-at-46/752860/10 "2016-04-24T01:24:09Z")
I can’t watch the special. All day long I was looking forward to watching it… and then Prince died and I needed to wallow in that for a few hours. It was going to be my relaxation at the end of the day… right about the time he tweeted the news. I’m sure I will watch it eventually, but I don’t think even he could make me laugh right now watching him. And if he did bits about her and their kid, it would just feel too sad. It’s like I respect and like him too much to be laughing at him right now even though I don’t know him and we’re supposed to laugh at his special. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2016, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patton-oswalts-wife-found-dead-at-46/752860/11 "2016-04-24T17:05:35Z")
> [@Fair\_Rarity](#): > > I’m sure I will watch it eventually, but I don’t think even he could make me laugh right now watching him. And if he did bits about her and their kid, it would just feel too sad. It’s like I respect and like him too much to be laughing at him right now even though I don’t know him and we’re supposed to laugh at his special. ditto, well put ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2016, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patton-oswalts-wife-found-dead-at-46/752860/12 "2016-04-24T18:12:25Z")
I remember when he did a bit about babies being like old men with bags of poop wrapped around them. But later he had a kid, and he fucking loved it. He seemed to be very happy with his family, and managed to make that joy funny. In many ways, the death of his wife that I know nothing about stings me more than most celebrity deaths. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2016, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patton-oswalts-wife-found-dead-at-46/752860/13 "2016-04-24T19:31:15Z")
> [@Fair\_Rarity](#): > > I can’t watch the special. All day long I was looking forward to watching it… and then Prince died and I needed to wallow in that for a few hours. It was going to be my relaxation at the end of the day… right about the time he tweeted the news. I’m sure I will watch it eventually, but I don’t think even he could make me laugh right now watching him. And if he did bits about her and their kid, it would just feel too sad. It’s like I respect and like him too much to be laughing at him right now even though I don’t know him and we’re supposed to laugh at his special. I found it relaxing. Yes, it reminded me of why I like him so much, which makes the sorrow more, but it also made me feel better. Just emotional cognitive dissonance, I guess. Normal for such a thing, I think. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2016, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patton-oswalts-wife-found-dead-at-46/752860/14 "2016-04-25T06:48:41Z")
Even though Prince is a much bigger name, and even though I don’t know all that much about her except that she was Patton Oswalt’s wife, I found the news of her death to be more of an immediate shock. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2016, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patton-oswalts-wife-found-dead-at-46/752860/15 "2016-04-25T14:12:18Z")
My wife told me the news the other day, and it stunned me. I’ve always considered us as a couple to be a lot like Patton and his wife: about the same age, had a daughter at about the same time, making lots of mistakes raising her while being atheistic and cynical…This news has caused me to reflect uncomfortably on how I would feel in the same situation. Can’t even imagine the devastation. My heart goes out to Patton. And I too remember the old routines about babies and such, and was wryly amused when he got married and had a kid and just loved it to pieces. My favorite picture of dad-Patton is [this one](https://twitter.com/pattonoswalt/status/263421104536817664), from a few Halloweens ago. I would totally do that with the little Torqueling. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2016, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patton-oswalts-wife-found-dead-at-46/752860/16 "2016-05-02T00:08:49Z")
“When your mom dies you’re the best memory of her. Everything you do is a memory of her.” – Alice Oswalt, 7 Patton tweeted that earlier. Yikes. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2016, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patton-oswalts-wife-found-dead-at-46/752860/17 "2016-05-02T00:35:22Z")
The day before his wife died Patton was making all these comments about Prince dying, then his twitter went silent for a week before he made a couple comments about his wife. I wonder if Patton will become a health nut due to this, out of some fear of his daughter growing up an orphan. ---
**Author:** ![Fair\_Rarity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fair_rarity/32/153_2.png) [@Fair\_Rarity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fair_Rarity)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2016, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patton-oswalts-wife-found-dead-at-46/752860/18 "2016-05-02T01:12:31Z")
His brother (who is also really funny) has also been mostly twitter-absent. I saw Patton’s tweet earlier and it broke my heart.