Patricia Kendrick Brito was born at Lackland Air Force Base in 1944 during World War II. Her father was in the Army Air Corps. After World War II, the family moved to Pasadena where Patricia attended school. She later attended Rice where she graduated with honors in history in 1967. History does not pay very well so she studied accounting as well. She was offered a job at a big eight firm, but she did not want to practice accounting and so she started graduate school in history. Her oral exam was interrupted by a bomb scare.
She married Dagobert (Bob) L. Brito in 1968, who was then a graduate student in economics. They moved to Madison, Wisconsin, in 1970, and to Columbus, Ohio, in 1972. In Columbus, Patricia worked on the National Longitudinal Survey, researching women’s labor force participation after World War I and publishing several papers on the subject. She moved to New Orleans in 1978 where she worked at a tugboat company. She met and impressed the president of Tulane who offered her the opportunity to become the first Director of Long Range Planning. In that job, she had exposure to the New Orleans society and as a result, Patricia and Bob received many invitations, including going the Rex Ball.
In 1984, she moved to Houston and attended the University of Houston law school. She excelled in law school and landed a job with Mayer, Brown & Platt as a financial lawyer representing banks lending money to oil companies. She was forced to retire by the illness that finally took her life. One of her proudest accomplishments was closing a $1.5 billion deal on the Monday after tropical storm Allison when all the phone lines were down.
In the early 70s, Patricia and Bob were checking into the Algonquin Hotel after flying to New York in a private plane. Pat was wearing blue jeans. Blue jeans were suitable apparel for flying in a private plane, but not for downtown Manhattan at night. The man at the desk turned to Bob and said: ”You are Dr. Brito, but who is that woman?” Pat was very, very cute.
Patricia and Bob had many experiences and adventures that ranged from hosting a cocktail party that included four current and future Nobel laureates, flying their airplane through snow storms at night and having to be rescued by the Israeli army in the old city during the first Infatada.
Her best friend posted: “Pat was such a kind and gentle person, and so intelligent. I loved my long chats with her and will miss her terribly.” This is a widely shared sentiment among her friends and former coworkers. Many of us will miss her and treasure her memory.
Patricia’s husband, Dagobert Brito, her brother, Charles Kendrick and her sister, Loy Elizabeth Powell, as well as several nieces and nephews survive her.
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