Patti was born in Birmingham, Alabama, on December 23, 1946, and passed away
at UAB Hospital after a fall on October 9, 2023. She is survived by her son Mark
and daughter-in-law Lisa, her daughter, Rachel, her beloved grandchildren Blake
and Jenna, her dear sister, Betsy, and her husband Bill. She is also survived by her
niece, Mary Ann, and her family, along with her nephew, Russell, and her
deceased husband’s brothers and sisters in law. She lived her life surrounded by
dear friends, especially her friend of 47 years, Mary Clyde, and her family.
After graduating from Shades Valley High School, Patti attended Auburn
University, where her father, Bo, played football. Along with the rest of her
family, Patti’s blood ran orange and blue. On any given football or basketball day,
her Facebook status would say, “Let’s go, Baby Tigers!” She met her husband,
Tom, at First Presbyterian Church when they attended worship together. They
were married there, where their son Mark was later baptized there, and their
daughter later served as an associate pastor there.

Tom and Patti settled in Birmingham when their kids were young, and Patti was
called to a part time job as youth minister at Southminster Presbyterian Church
when her husband began serving as associate pastor at First Presbyterian Church.
She stayed for over 30 years, serving youth, children, and their families. She also
worked at First Presbyterian Church, Birmingham, for over 10 years until just a
few years ago. At the end of her life, she was a member of Edgewood
Presbyterian Church, and was preparing to teach the kids in a worship class just
before she died. She welcomed every child, teenager, and adult she ever met,
recognizing them, calling them, and loving them as a child of God. Whether they
were struggling with their calling in life, their parents, their sexuality, with
depression, with relationships, with religion and their place in it—she assured
them of God’s grace and love for them. She assured them that they were deeply
loved by God, even if they had been abandoned by everyone else. She loved to
laugh, to sing, to question, to cook, to listen, to wear bright colors and big jewelry,
to teach, and to welcome.

For 40 years, Patti took youth, children, and college students to camps, retreats,
and Montreat conferences. She served as the director or co-director for too many
retreats and conferences to name and has a cabin at Living River given in her
honor. Patti served as the surrogate grandparent for lots of children in
Birmingham, and her greatest joy in life was being Nana to her own
grandchildren, Blake and Jenna. She loved them more than life and was so proud
of them.

A memorial service will be held at 2pm, Friday, October 27th, at Southminster
Presbyterian Church, in Vestavia Hills, Alabama, where family and friends will
gather in Grace Hall following. We are profoundly grateful to everyone in the
Palliative Care Unit at UAB Hospital for their kind and tender care to mom and all
of us while we were there. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be
made to Edgewood Presbyterian Church at https://www.edgewoodpc.org/; Living
River: a Retreat on the Cahaba at https://www.livingriver.org/; The Presbyterian
Home for Children at https://phfc.org/; or your favorite organization.