Rita Patricia McGlynn

Rita Patricia McGlynn was born April 22nd, 1951 to Joseph and Rita McNamara. She was the second oldest of five daughters. Patricia attended college at Dunbarton College of the Holy Cross in Washington D.C. where she majored in Music with a focus in Piano. She went on to attain her Masters in Education from Harvard University.

Faith, family, and education were of the utmost importance to Patricia throughout the entirety of her life. Her faith was built from a young age through the guidance of her parents and further strengthened by her Catholic school upbringing. She was devout in prayer, attending mass, and practicing the teachings of the faith through love and compassion for others. Annunciation became a place near and dear to her heart from an early time, because of the strong parish community and its founding by the Sisters of the Holy Child.

Family was always at the forefront of her thoughts as she had three children: Sean, Patricia, and Brian with her former husband of twenty years, Tom McGlynn. She was a grandmother to three: Houston, Eric, and Elsa, grandchildren she loved dearly and held in the warmest regard.

Patricia valued education greatly, having studied under Howard Gardner at Harvard. She utilized her teaching degree through years of educating others around the DC area as well as homeschooling her three children.

In addition to her steadfast dedication to her faith and family, Patricia had an exceptional eye for aesthetics, art, and beauty. She possessed a variety of skills in both art and design, enjoying drawing, painting, sewing, knitting, and interior decorating. She applied these skills in her own wedding, crafting her wedding dress and those of her bridesmaids by hand. She had a keen ear and talent for music as well, having majored in Piano during college which led to a great fondness for Bach and Mozart. These musical foundations also led to a love of The Beatles, Beach Boys, and Elton John. Patricia wielded impressive culinary expertise, with a great palate and deft hand in both cooking and baking that friends and family alike enjoyed over the years.

Her many skills and knowledge were outdone however by her love for others. Despite her own health struggles and ailments, she focused frequently on helping those in need, particularly single mothers and homeless throughout the DC area.

She is survived by her children Sean, Patricia, and Brian, her son-in-law Eric Sr, grandchildren Houston, Eric Jr, and Elsa. She was preceded in death by her sister Judy Young and survived by her sisters Marijo, Linda, and Barbara.

In place of flowers, if you would like to make a donation in Patricia’s name, we ask you to consider So Others Might Eat (SOME) soup kitchen or the Father McKenna Center soup kitchen.