P. Carey, 73, basketball star

Patrick J. Carey, 73, formerly of Southwest Philadelphia, a high school basketball star and retired trucking company executive, died of cancer Sunday, April 3, at Odyssey Hospice in Las Vegas.

Mr. Carey played basketball on neighborhood playgrounds in Southwest Philadelphia and with summer leagues at Narberth Playground and was an All-Catholic player at West Philadelphia Catholic High School.

In 1955, his senior year, he scored 47 points in a game against Roman Catholic, breaking the Catholic League record.

That year, West Catholic played Overbrook for the city title. Overbrook won, 83-42, with its star player, Wilt Chamberlain, scoring 35 points.

Mr. Carey attended Villanova University on an athletic scholarship for a year. He then worked for General Electric Co.

In 1961, he returned to basketball and for four years played for the Washington Generals, the exhibition team that has long provided a foil for the Harlem Globetrotters' comedy routines. He toured the country with the Generals and traveled twice to Europe, his daughter Patricia Fisher said.

Mr. Carey later moved to Southern California and worked in the transportation industry for Trailmobile and then for Transport International Pool. He was a sales manager and vice president for the firm when he retired in the late 1990s.

In 2009, Mr. Carey was inducted into the West Catholic Sports Hall of Fame. At the induction ceremony, his daughter said, he thanked his teammates for passing him the ball and apologized for never giving it back.

In addition to his daughter, Mr. Carey is survived by sons Patrick and Michael; daughter Linda Romano; his longtime companion, Loralynn Brady; his former wife, Helen Redding Carey; and a brother.

A Funeral Mass will be said at 11 a.m. Saturday, April 30, at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Roman Catholic Church, 2130 Franklin Ave., Morton. Friends may call from 10 a.m. Burial will be in Holy Cross Cemetery, Yeadon.

Donations may be made to West Catholic Alumni Association, Box 889, Ardmore, Pa. 19003.