Kansas City, Missouri, and died August 29, 2014, in Mesa, Arizona. A resident of Mesa since
1988, she previously lived in Parker, AZ; San Bernardino, CA; and Overland Park, KS. Pat
worked as a Registered Nurse (RN) for more than 38 years.
She met Charles McKinley Hilton in San Bernardino, and they were married May 7, 1949, In
Las Vegas, NV. Charles died November 12, 1973. Mrs. Hilton was also pre-deceased by her parents,
Martin and Eileen Canfield; a sister, Dorothy Eileen Canfield and a brother, Kenneth Robert.
Pat is survived by two children, Robert McKinley Hilton (Laura) and Catherine Patricia Hilton
(Lane), both of Mesa; four granddaughters, Jane Merial Hilton, Ingrid Ann Melle (Adam), Leila;
Woodward (Jeff) and Lana Ferguson. Mrs. Hilton is also survived by a brother, Martin G. Canfield, Jr. of Lynchburg, VA; and four great-granddaughters, Paige Newsom, Riley Ferguson, Elin Melle and Aideen Melle.
Upon her 1944 graduation from Shawnee-Mission Rural High School in Merriam, KS, Patricia
started her nursing career in the United States World War II Cadet Nursing Corps at St. Luke's
Hospital in Kansas City. She graduated as an RN in September 1947, and moved to San
Bernardino to work at the San Bernardino Community and San Bernardino County Hospitals.
In 1964, she began working as an RN at the United States Public Health Service Indian
Hospital in Parker, until retiring in 1988. Pat was honored with a Public Health Service Award for
"Long Untiring Dedication to Nursing" and in 1986 was also nominated by the U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services as "Woman of the Year".
She was devoted to her career and family and was also an accomplished gardener, seamstress,
an avid reader; and in recent years became deeply interested in family history and genealogy.
A memorial service for Mrs. Hilton will be held at 2:00 p.m., Sunday, September 7, 2014, in
Mesa at Melcher Mortuary Missionary Chapel, 6625 E. Main St. She will be laid to rest the
following week in a private service at the Parker Cemetery, Parker, AZ.
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