Mary E. Patterson

Mary Patterson was born September 14, 1934, in Chase City, Virginia to parents Buelah Flagg and Edward Johnson. She is the baby of 11 children by the two. She went on herself to have 5 children and 11 grandchildren. After having her first three children in Chase City she left Virginia to pursue her big-city dreams. She pursued a career in education by first becoming a paraprofessional and then later a school teacher at P.S.63 for forty-two years. She took great joy in helping many children read and write. She leaves to mourn her children Donald and Linda. As well as her grandchildren Mitchell, Brandon, Justin, Dylan, Nicole, Janet, Dominique, Bobby, Darnell, and Linette. Mary will be missed by a host of other family, friends, and coworkers.

Everywhere Mary went, she’d always manage to make everyone turn their heads and smile. She was kind to all sorts of strangers, but especially to her family. Telling of her humble beginnings of volunteering to teach children at school, every day of the week. She had to be forced to apply to be a teacher by a coworker, and despite her worries, she began to teach officially as a teacher. For only $2 per hour, she made sure every child in her class had a place to call home away from home.