Patricia Beryl Wrigley

Pat was born and grew up in London, England. As a child during World War II, her family was bombed out during a German air raid. She, along with her brother and mother, moved to a farm in Norfolk to escape the war, but returned to their rebuilt home before the war’s end. She attended Spring Grove Grammar School in Isleworth, West London, where she played a mean game of field hockey. After graduation, she worked in Fleet Street at the Daily Express newspaper. She then earned a nursing degree at St. Mary Abbott’s Hospital in Kensington and worked as a midwife in London’s East End. In the late 1950s, she moved to France to continue her nursing work at the American Hospital of Paris. There, she met Raymond T. Wrigley Jr., a US Army Captain stationed in Paris. They were married in April 1963. When Ray’s tour of duty ended, the young couple moved to the US, settling in Denver, where they raised two children. Pat took the children back to England as often as she could during their childhood, connecting them to their English heritage and cementing trans-Atlantic family bonds. In her late 40s, Patricia took up running and pursued the sport earnestly. In the 1980s, she took first place in her age group multiple times in various races in Denver metro area, her favorite being the Bolder Boulder 10k. Pat held many jobs in the Denver business world, but eventually returned to nursing. She graduated from Regis University and then pursued refresher nursing courses. After working nights in the ER at Denver General and Lutheran Hospitals, she became a nurse practitioner specializing in women’s health needs. In her later years her inner artist emerged. Her pottery and paintings adorn institutions and homes around the Denver area.

She is survived by her husband, Ray, children Ray and Sheryl, brother Roy Child, sister Pamela Budd, grandchildren Sydney, Olivia, Lucan and Isabel, and step-grandson Nicolas. In the words of her husband, she was “a magnificent lady.” There will be a celebration of Patricia’s life later in the year. In lieu of flowers, a memorial contribution may be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.