Patricia McClintock Hilton

Trish’s lineage has its roots in banking, sports and extraordinary women. She was born on August 11, 1940 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Her paternal grandfather, the late R Otis “GG” McClintock and father, the late Frank Grant “Mac” McClintock, both were president of The First National Bank & Trust Co of Tulsa. Decades apart under the bank’s aegis, each built one of Oklahoma’s tallest buildings in downtown Tulsa. GG was a founding member of Southern Hills Golf Club, while Mac would later be elected the Masters Tournament Chairman (1974, Augusta) only to suffer a debilitating stroke on the morning of his building’s ribbon-cutting. Trish’s maternal grandmother, the late Mabelle Kennedy, a pioneer-woman turned banker became assistant treasurer of the United States under President Harry S. Truman, a member of the U. S. Goodwill Mission to Brazil, named an Honorary Citizen of Texas, has a 32-mile stretch of US Hwy 60 in OK named after her, and remains honored in the Oklahoma’s Hall of Fame. Her daughter, Trish’s mother, the late Patricia “Pat” Kennedy (McClintock) Schmidlapp drove an ambulance during World War II for the American Red Cross and, as a longtime resident of Palm Beach, later helped establish the International Red Cross Ball, a charitable black tie affair faceted with full-dress U.S. Military escorts and where ambassadors from around the world would be ensconced and hosted in the homes of PB’s socially generous. Pat was best known for her charm, intellect, beauty, fashion sense, charitable endeavors and prowess in bridge and society.

Given the material and genetic gifts from her family, Trish’s early life was comfortable, only adversely punctuated by her parents’ occasional marital woes. Growing up in Tulsa, Trish was known for her many accomplishments and her great sense of fun and adventure. Attending Holland Hall in Tulsa, Trish was an above average student with an affinity for math (likely, a reason she was good at bridge), captained several of her school’s sports teams, was president of the “Rajah Social Club,” drove a ’57 Chevy convertible along the soon-antiquated Route 66 and was very popular, if not iconic in the eyes of Tulsa’s youth.

Some of Trish’s fondest memories were summers spent with her grandparents in La Jolla, CA. At age 18, while accompanying her grandfather to the renown Del Mar racetrack, Trish met her future husband, the late Conrad Nicholson “Nicky” Hilton, Jr. After a three-month whirl-wind courtship being pursued by the handsome Hilton Hotel heir, including unannounced visits to her college with his entourage of friends, Trish consented. They were married on November 26, 1958, at the Plaza Hotel in New York City, instantly catapulting Trish into a new life.

Still in her early to mid-twenties, she traveled with Nick and her beloved father-in-law, the late Conrad Sr., to major destinations in Hawaii and across Europe, Northern Africa and the Middle East for gala “openings” of new Hilton Hotels. These events were usually attended by the host country’s social and political elite, and often generated frontpage and worldwide news.

Kind, feisty, smart and loyal, Trish was fun and funny. She truly loved a good laugh, even at her own expense – qualities that made those around her happy.

At home in Beverly Hills, Trish devoted herself to her husband and two sons. Her friends now included entertainment, fashion, hotel and other industry luminaries. She loved playing cards, frequently hosting intimate bridge or gin rummy parties. Along with her sister-in-law, Marilyn, and a small circle of friends, Trish worked on charities to benefit children, specifically, SHARE Inc and Las Floristas. Trish was a lifelong sports fanatic: her passion of sports included not only avidly reading about and watching golf, tennis and football, but also by herself becoming an accomplished skier and tennis player. During these years, as her physical athleticism grew, so too did her beauty. Years later the magazine, Town & Country, would do a pictorial essay on three women each representing a dominant cultural influence in the world of beauty and fashion. Trish was featured by the magazine as the “American Look.”

In 1969, some 11 years after their marriage, Nick died unexpectantly from heart failure, a devastating loss to Trish and her boys. Long-time friends would recall how young and vulnerable Trish and her boys were at the time, and how bravely Trish responded. Throughout her life, she often would proclaim “Nick was the love of my life.”

Now a widow at age 29, Trish moved her household, ever-present Yorkshire Terrier and two young boys to Palm Beach, FL, where her mother and stepfather resided. Trish asked her sons’ Danish governess, Betty Sogaard, to accompany them. During the next 36 years, Betty would become a member of the family, and an indispensable friend and confidant to Trish.

Like her mother, Trish joined social clubs, becoming a skillful & competitive tennis player eventually holding one championship title for tennis doubles from the Bath and Tennis Club as well as two from The Everglades Club.

In Palm Beach, Trish was introduced to the game of backgammon at 5-cents a point by “two lovely older ladies” who promptly demonstrated the power of the “Doubling Cube” and nicked her for a tune of $350 that first day – a lesson she never forgot. Trish loved her stick-shift Porsche sports cars – the first, a forgettable 914, then a candy-apple red 911, her last and favorite, a black 5-speed 928, which she had trouble getting out of 2nd gear along the town’s roads.

In the mid 70s, Trish worked for ABC Wide World of Sports in their golf and college football TV coverage as a field correspondent.

She found new love on the ski slopes of Sun Valley, ID, marrying the late Charles “Chuck” Faegre, an attorney from MN, and lived in Wayzata, a suburb of Minneapolis. In the 80s Trish and Chuck relocated to Palm Beach, yet after eight years of marriage, they divorced. Trish would remain a Palm Beach resident hereafter, again committing herself to sports, her friends and family and card playing. She continued to work hard for charities that asked, like the Society of the Four Arts, but more often with those that supported children, such as The United Way and The Boys and Girls Clubs of PBC.

Trish loved her friends and they loved her. Yet, in the last decade of her life, injuries and personal maladies exacted a toll, reducing her physical activities and social presence with bridge being her primary outlet.

Trish was a wonderful mother who gave her children unquestionable love and support, simultaneously introducing them to a range of cultures, geographies and activities. She was beloved and will be dearly missed! Trish is survived by her two sons, Conrad N. Hilton III and Michael Otis Hilton, four grandchildren, Michael Jr., Kathryn Blake, Conrad IV, and Isabelle Kumari and by her brother Grant McClintock, her half-sister, Victoria Korshak and nephew, Alex Korshak.

A Memorial Service will be held on Saturday, May 6, 2023, at 11:00 AM at Bethesda by the Sea Episcopal Church, 141 S. County Rd. Palm Beach. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Palm Beach County in Mrs. Hilton’s memory.