Patricia Lee Newton

Patricia Lee Newton, age 77, passed away on Sunday, November 30, 2025, in Nashville, Tennessee, surrounded by her family after battling cancer. Patricia was born in 1948 at Tulsa, Oklahoma, the first child of Dr. Kenneth Newton and Mary (Rick) Newton. At the time of Patricia’s birth, her father was attending University of Tulsa, pursuing his education on the GI bill. Her mother and father met while working on the Manhattan Project in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. After Patricia’s father graduated from University of Tulsa, the family moved to Knoxville, Tennessee, where Patricia’s father earned a Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville and served as a professor.

Patricia graduated in 1966 from Knoxville Catholic High School. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in History from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville in 1971. Patricia married Steve Rechichar, and they became devoted parents to their daughter, Rachel Rechichar Newton. After Patricia and Steve divorced in 1976, Rachel lived with Patricia most of the time. While working full-time as an attorney, Patricia spared no effort or expense in making sure that Rachel remained her top priority. Patricia cheered her beloved daughter at her dance recitals, band performances, and school plays, and helped instill a lifelong passion for learning in Rachel.

Patricia was a core part of a generation of women who pioneered their way into the legal profession in the 1970s—and she did most of it as a young mom—paving the way for future generations of women to practice law in the courtrooms of Tennessee. She and Rachel lived in UT student housing while Patricia was a law student, and she graduated from the University of Tennessee Law School in 1975 along with very few other women in her graduating class. Patricia was admitted to the Tennessee Bar that year and began law practice with the law firm of Sid Gilreath in Knoxville. Patricia and Rachel moved in 1978 to Nashville where Patricia became an Assistant Public Defender for Metro Nashville.

In 1981, during Governor Lamar Alexander’s administration, Patricia began her 45-year career with the Tennessee State Government, during which she held numerous leadership roles. She started as a lawyer in the Office of the General Counsel at the Tennessee Department of Health. She worked her way up to Managing Attorney in that office.

Toward the end of her time in the Office of the General Counsel at the Tennessee Department of Health, in 1993 and 1994, Patricia was part of the legal team involved in the transition from regular Medicaid to TennCare, Tennessee’s expanded Medicaid program for low-income pregnant women, parents and caregivers, children, elderly, and disabled individuals. Patricia was one of the first attorneys who worked on TennCare issues, on behalf of families and children and ensuring their rights to due process.

In 1995, Patricia joined the Office of the General Counsel at the Tennessee Department of Finance and Administration as an attorney, and from 1997 until 1999, she served as Deputy General Counsel in the Office of General Counsel of the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services. In 1999, she was appointed by Governor Don Sundquist to be Assistant Commissioner for the TennCare Oversight Division and later as Acting Deputy Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance. From 2003 to 2005, she served as the Deputy to the Assistant Commissioner in the Bureau of TennCare in the Tennessee Department of Finance & Administration and from 2005 to 2007, she served as the Managing Attorney for Operations of the Bureau.

Patricia never retired—even in the face of cancer. She loved her career in public service, making the lives of Tennesseans better. At the time of her passing she was serving as Compliance Manager of the TennCare Oversight Division of the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance, a role she had held since 2007.

Patricia brought warmth and color into the lives of those around her, including when she married David H. Lillard, Jr., of Fayette County, Tennessee who is the Tennessee State Treasurer.

For almost 25 years, Patricia and David built a wonderful life together. They blended their families together, and Patricia gained two stepchildren, Scott and Brooke Lillard. They always had a corral of pets in their house—with a peak number of five animals at one time, three dogs and two cats. An avid Tennessee Vols fan, Patricia may or may not have converted David, a graduate of the University of Memphis and the University of Florida, into being a UT fan, too. They traveled the country together from Alaska to New York and everywhere in between. They went to the opera together. They loved watching the news together every single morning and night and debating about the latest topics with each other. They built a house on the family farm in Fayette County, where Patricia became a member of St. Philip the Apostle Catholic Church.

Patricia was the oldest of six children and was a devoted big sister. She traveled often to stay close to her parents, siblings, nieces and nephews. She was quick to offer a helping hand in many situations, caring for siblings experiencing health issues and providing legal expertise for many family members. Patricia also had an extended family of close friends. Some of her favorite activities were getting together with her girlfriends to talk about life over a glass of wine, and spending hours on the phone talking to her sisters.

Rachel and Patricia remained very close during Patricia’s lifetime, and Patricia was always available for motherly advice and fun activities like movies and trips to Cheekwood. As Rachel was considering next steps for her own career, Patricia encouraged her to attend law school. Rachel graduated from St. Louis University Law School with honors in 2003. Patricia sponsored Rachel’s admission to the Tennessee State Bar. During the bar admission ceremony, a Tennessee Supreme Court Justice noted that Patricia and Rachel were the first mother-daughter pair they had seen.

Although Patricia loved humans, animals had a special place in her heart. Dubbed in the family as “the patron saint of lost animals,” she loved and cared for her many cat and dog companions that she adopted as rescues throughout her whole life. When Patricia walked into any place that promoted dog adoptions, there was always the possibility that one would come home with her.

Patricia was also an avid gardener, relentlessly weeding and planting flowers and herbs. She built gardens at their house on the farm, including Hostas, Bee Balm, Daylilies, Rosemary, and at their house in Nashville, where she grew Coneflowers, Lantanas, and others. She loved supporting mini ecosystems, with birds, bees, and butterflies benefitting from her work.

Patricia is predeceased by her father, mother and younger brothers Rick and Kevin. She is survived by her husband, David H. Lillard, Jr., her daughter Rachel Newton, who is an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Tennessee, by her brother Ross Newton, by her sisters Michele, and her husband Randy Neal, and Maureen Newton, by sister-in-law Glenda Newton, by her stepchildren and their significant others, Brooke Lillard and her fiancé Terry Sween and Scott Lillard and his wife Julie Carter and her sister-in-law Robin Lillard Bates. Patricia is also survived by her nieces and nephews, Kelly Douglass and her husband Chris Douglass, Jason Newton, Jennifer Newton Greer, Alex Newton, his wife Myra Newton, William Newton, and Julia Newton.

The visitation and funeral Mass for Patricia Newton will take place on Saturday, December 13 at St. Mary of the Seven Sorrows Church in Nashville, Tennessee. The visitation will take place from 12:00 PM until 2:00 PM and the funeral Mass will begin at 2:00 PM. The church is located at 328 Rep John Lewis Way N, Nashville, TN, 37219. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that you send a donation to Old Friends Senior Dog Sanctuary, 765 Nonaville Road, Mount Juliet, Tennessee 37122, in honor of Patricia’s memory. Woodlawn-Roesch-Patton Funeral Home has charge of arrangements. Interment will be in the family plot at Woodlawn Cemetery on Chapman Highway in Knox County, Tennessee.