Posted on 01/01/2019
Patricia Doherty Kosiba died peacefully at home in Chapel Hill, NC on December 20, 2018 at the age of 90.
Born on April 7, 1928 at Ft. Sill, OK, to army career officer Harold and Florence Doherty, Patricia grew up on multiple army posts. She was just 13, living with her parents and younger sister, Colleen, at Schofield Barracks when the Japanese launched their attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941. Spending the next four months in nightly blackout, with no school and limited beach access, she eventually made the perilous ship voyage with her mother and sister, across the Pacific, back to the continental US, while her father stayed behind in Hawaii to manage a field artillery unit.
She settled in Lafayette, IN for the remainder of the war, where her father later became Adjutant General of the National Guard. Patricia attended college briefly, then joined her family who were moving to Germany as part of the post-WWII Allied Occupation. Working in American hospitals as a secretary, she met Ensign Richard Kosiba, a recent USNA graduate, on leave from his post aboard the USS Steinaker. They married in 1949 in Heidelberg, a city they would return to 30 years hence on a corporate assignment.
Moving from Norfolk to Boston to Washington to Newport News and back to the Washington, DC area, Pat supported Dick's career working for Admiral Rickover, and raised 3 children. Active in their Bethesda, MD community of Carderock Springs, Pat eventually returned to earn her college degree at the University of Maryland amidst the Vietnam War era campus tumult of the late 60's-early 70's. She then enjoyed a part-time career working in public libraries.
Pat and Dick moved to Lynchburg, VA in the mid 1970's, and then to Germany, where they once again enjoyed travelling through Europe. Returning to the US, they built homes in Lynchburg and Wintergreen, VA, before retiring to the Chapel Hill, NC area, home also to son Brad and wife Dorothy Hammett and eventually their three sons. Daughter Karen Kosiba Edwards remained in Bethesda, MD where she raised her two daughters. Pat and Dick's second son, Hal, died in 1999.
A wonderful and supportive wife, sister, mother and grandmother, Pat excelled at figuring people out. Her instincts, like her sense of hearing, were excellent, and she trained as a peer counselor for women returning to the workforce. When Dick's passing in 2015 ended their 66 year marriage, Pat mourned his loss, while remaining fiercely independent. Following a stroke, she spent the last year of her life in DuBose Health Center at the Cedars of Chapel Hill, cared for by its amazing staff and her children. The family plans a private celebration of Pat's life. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to The Cedars of Chapel Hill Scholarship Program for Employees, 100 Cedar Club Circle, Chapel Hill, NC 27517.
Published in The News & Observer on Dec. 30, 2018