Jane M. Patterson

In Memoriam: Jane Evelyn Mayo Patterson Our beloved Jane was born January 25th, 1929, at Ellis Hospital in Schenectady, New York. She was one of three children, with older brothers Herbert and Richard, to her parents Marjorie Hollins and Theodore Mayo. Jane attended Mt Pleasant High School during the last years of World War II, graduating in the class of 1947. At Mt Pleasant, her mother encouraged her to take part in the extra curricular Modeling and Drama Class, in part to help overcome her shyness. It was there that she met her future husband, the dashing young Harold R (AKA “Pat”) Patterson Jr, for the first time. They became fast friends and co-performers in dramatic productions, and before long the friendship blossomed into romance. The pair were married on July 2, 1947, a marriage of true love and devotion that would last over 71 years and into eternity. When Pat became an officer in the Army soon after their marriage, he was immediately deployed to Korea. Jane stayed with Pat’s parents for a year during this time, before making a distant journey by sea, sailing through the Panama Canal and across the Pacific to reunite with Pat for a new deployment in Japan. In 1950, after 18 months in Japan, Jane returned with Pat to the United States, living as an officer’s wife and homemaker in their first home in Fort Benning, GA. Her travel with Pat continued in 1953 when he was stationed in Germany. Here, the couple welcomed their first daughter Ellen, born with dual German-American citizenship in June 1954. 1956 brought Jane, Pat and young Ellen back to America, settling in Washington DC metropolitan area. The family lived in Arlington VA until they bought their second home in the Ridgeview subdivision in Alexandria, VA. Here, the family grew to six, as Jane and Pat saw the birth of three more children: their second daughter, Janice, born September 1958; their third daughter, Pamela, born January 1961; and a son, Harold R. Patterson III (AKA “Harry”), born February 1964. She was a patient and loving mother, celebrating their milestones and accomplishments with pride, joy and love, and selflessly supporting them in difficult times. Jane joined the workforce in 1967 as a legal secretary for Mr. Henry Counts, supporting a small law office in Old Town Alexandria. In 1969, the family moved 7 houses down the street from Ridgeview to another subdivision called Wilton Woods. Along the wooded banks of Lake Lariat in Chesapeake Ranch Club, Calvert County MD, Jane and Pat saw the potential for a family summer house, and in 1972 they had an A-frame house built there which they lovingly called “Camp” in the tradition of the retreats of upstate New York. The completion of Camp was celebrated with an inaugural Thanksgiving dinner in November 1972, and many family trips filled the house with happy memories for years to come. Jane and Pat moved to Burke, VA in 1983, where she and Pat enjoyed a long retirement and years of international travel. While here at the Burke home and later in Springfield VA at Greenspring Village from 2002, Jane’s loving support of her family deepened as she became a Grandmother to nine boys: Austin in 1980, Brandon and Ryan in 1986, Colin in 1989, Trey in 1990, Jake in 1996, Michael in 1999, JD in 2002, and Alex in 2004. In 2008 she was thrilled to become a great grandmother with Austin’s three children: Neo and Dex in 2008, and Sloane in 2012, her first great-granddaughter. Although Jane was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes in 1958, she lived an unusually long and normal life for over 60 years. Against all odds and in addition to her daily monitoring of her Diabetes, Jane overcame serious medical conditions including a heart attack requiring three stents, heart surgery to improve functioning of her aortic valve as part of a research study in 2013, a severe stroke in 2015, and most recently, Bullous Pemphigoid, a very rare and difficult auto-immune blistering disease. Despite all her medical challenges, she demonstrated grace and determination with characteristic good humor with her family by her side. Throughout her life, Jane was a creative role model at church, at home, and in her community. She attended Olivet Episcopal Church regularly from 1958 to present, singing Alto in the choir and serving on the Altar Guild. She contributed her humor and creative input to many activities and projects including Christmas pageants, Easter Pageants, the annual Strawberry Festival, Koinonia, and many other parish events in the Undercroft at Olivet. In her home life and for the community, Jane used her artistic talents as a dynamic and creative Brownie & Girl Scout leader for all three of her daughters, and always volunteered for camping trips – often recognized for designing the best projects for earning badges. In her free time, Jane loved literature and novels, and loved to buy books to feed her appetite as a voracious reader. She also found a festive creative outlet in manking decorations for the seasons and the holidays, which those around her so appreciated. Each year her skills as an expert seamstress were on display as she crafted award winning Halloween costumes for her children. Her affinity for textile crafts also extended naturally to the handmade clothes she made for her family’s daily wear, nightgowns and special occasion dresses, as well as curtains, pillows and decor for every home she lived in. As an artist, she also loved to paint. She painted large portraits and scenes that were recognized regionally and exhibited in art shows. She lent her talents to her church with large murals, including a depiction of Mount Vernon in the basement of Olivet, as well as nursery rhyme characters in the nursery school classrooms. At home and at camp she filled her home with personalized artworks such as daisies in the kitchen, the “lady hanging laundry” in the laundry room, and “cowboy & indian themed” murals at camp using leftover paint from various projects. In her later years, Jane traveled the world with Pat, exploring faraway places and living out the romance of their youth. Keeping extensive records of ephemera from the trips, she has put together dozens of beautiful scrapbooks, creatively presented with a focus on capturing their memorable experiences together. Throughout her life, Jane has always taken the time to make her surroundings better, even in small ways, and to showcase the wonderful people and places that filled her long and fortunate life. Her surviving family and friends will miss her elegance, her strength, her optimism, her wit and her faith, and her deep devotion to making the world a more beautiful place. Relatives and friends may pay their respects at Jefferson Funeral Chapel, 5755 Castlewellan Dr., Alexandria, VA on Tuesday, April 23, 2019 from 2-4PM. A funeral will be held the same day at Olivet Episcopal Church, 6107 Franconia Rd., Alexandria, VA 22310 at 5PM. Interment Arlington National Cemetery on a later date. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in Jane’s name to the American Diabetes Association. Jane Evelyn Mayo Patterson 1929 - 2019

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Jane M. Patterson

January 25, 1929 - April 15, 2019