Patricia Ann Emerson

Pat was the oldest of four biological siblings, growing up in Middletown, NY. Her parents fostered many children while she was growing up. She had a lot of responsibility helping out with a house full of kids. Her parents also had a farm in the country. Every weekend the family would drive up to the farm and work in the garden, which is likely where her love of gardening started.

A school teacher for 40+ years in New York and North Carolina, Pat mostly taught 1st and 2nd grade. Her love of teaching was apparent from the many parents requesting her and all the tokens of appreciation she received from them throughout the years. One parent even made her a hanging quilt with both of her daughters depicted on it along with other children blooming from flowers. While she was at Lebanon Road Elementary in Charlotte, NC, she received the honor of being Teacher of the Year.

After retirement Pat and Alan moved to Bath, NC into the dream house they had designed to be their forever home. While in Bath she became a Master Gardener and spent endless hours in her vegetable and rose gardens. She loved to spend time in the dirt.

Pat was an Eucharistic Minister for her church, Mother of Mercy Catholic Church in Washington, NC. She cherished those moments she shared with the other members of her church who couldn't make it to church to receive communion.

She was also an avid reader. You could always find her with a book and always had them to share with friends and family.

No matter where she lived - from New York to Vermont to Michigan to North Carolina - she made great friends with whom she stayed in contact through the years, even without Facebook! She often chatted with old college roommates from SUNY Oneonta in Oneonta, NY, where she received her BS in Elementary Education. She also remained close with many of her co-workers from AV Baucom Elementary School in Apex.

Pat loved the beach and shelling. She and Alan bought a place in Garden City, SC, where they would go every year, often inviting family members to share in the vacation.

She was married to Alan for 60 years until his passing in 2021. They had three wonderful children: Roy, Rodger, and Susan. She was also preceded in death by her parents Dominic and Helen Profenno; her son, Rodger; and sisters, Fran Horn and Joni Mathney.

She will be missed by her son Roy Emerson (Tammye); daughter Susan Hill (Mark); grandchildren Grant (Amelia), Kelsey (Lance) Madison (Tristian), Ashley, Ryland, Christian (Lauren) and Blake; and four great-grandsons, Silas, Harrison, Garrett, Sonny, and Jack.

A Celebration of Life will be held at Nelsen Funeral Home, located at 3785 Strawberry Plains Rd., Williamsburg, VA 23188, United States. The service is scheduled for January 28, 2026, starting at 1:00 pm.