Patricia "Trish" Hale McLain

Patricia Hale McLain, born in New Orleans on July 29, 1937, passed away on Wednesday, November 23, 2016. She was the daughter of Miriam Ebert and Patrick Douglas Hale and the sister of Charles Ebert Hale (all predeceased). She was the granddaughter of Soline Delvaille and Charles G. Ebert and the great-great granddaughter of Sarah Josepha Hale (author of “Mary Had a Little Lamb” and known as the “Mother of Thanksgiving” for petitioning to make Thanksgiving a national holiday).

Trish is survived by her husband of 52 years, James Jefferson McLain; her daughter, Soline Delvaille Holmes (James Holmes); her granddaughter, Catherine Blaney Holmes; and numerous friends.

She attended Academy of the Sacred Heart and is a graduate of Tulane University (English and Art) with graduate work at Tulane and at Cambridge University in England. She was a member of Delta Zeta sorority. She was a teacher and taught overseas for the Department of the Defense in France (Chateauroux) and England (RAF Lakenheath) where she met her husband, an Officer in the U.S. Air Force.

In New Orleans, she owned an antique store, Relics. For the past 25 years, she worked as a costume designer and properties mistress for the major theatres in New Orleans. For six years, she was the resident costume designer at Delgado Community College in New Orleans, and she also designed the original costumes for the New Orleans Historical Christmas characters in the French Quarter. Some of her favorite shows that she designed were My Fair Lady, The Miracle Worker, Hairspray, 1776, Vo-Du Macbeth, and, most recently, Amistad Research Center’s 50th Anniversary celebration.

She was nominated for Best Costume Designer four times for the Big Easy Awards and was the recipient of three Storer Boone Awards and a Marquee Award. She also received two awards from the Kennedy Center (for hair and make-up design for Dreamgirls and for costume design for Seven Guitars). She also provided costumes and props for TV and film productions such as Oliver Stone’s J.F.K., the Coen brothers’ Miller’s Crossing, the Travel Channel, and H.B.O.’s Tremé. She owned the costume and prop rental house, Designs in Time.

A wake will be held at Leitz Eagan Funeral Home, 4747 Veterans Avenue, Metairie, La. on Tuesday, November 29, 2016 from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. A funeral mass celebrated by Monsignor Christopher Nalty will take place at Noon on Wednesday, November 30 at St. Stephen’s Church, 1025 Napoleon Avenue, New Orleans, La. Visitation will begin at 11:00 a.m. Internment will follow at St. Louis #3 Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, please make donations in her name to Academy of the Sacred Heart, Attn: Development, 4521 St. Charles Avenue, New Orleans, La. 70115 (or www.ashrosary.org/giving) or in her name to the Richards Free Library, Attn: Andrea Thorpe, 58 North Main Street, Newport, New Hampshire 03773 in support of the Sarah Hale collection effort.

An online guest book is available at www.leitzeaganfuneralhome.com