Patricia Marie Druffner

Patricia (“Pat”) Marie (Schmitt) Druffner, 80, of Fredericksburg, Virginia, passed away on January 3, 2022 after a long battle with dementia. Patricia’s former residences include Hilton Head, South Carolina, Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania, Avoca, Pennsylvania, Rochester, Minnesota, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Cleveland, Ohio.

Patricia was born on July 27, 1941 to Catherine (Trainor) (d. 1994) and Charles Robert Schmitt (d. 1996) in Darby, Pennsylvania. Patricia attended Cardinal Dougherty High School, Philadelphia, graduating June 7, 1959, and Misericordia Hospital School of Nursing,Philadelphia, graduating September 7, 1962 at the top of her class.

While working as a nurse at Misericordia, she met her future husband, Dr. Charles R. Druffner. The couple wed on January 19, 1963. Charles is the son of the late Dr. and the late Mrs. L. C. Druffner, Avoca, PA.

When Charles was accepted into a residency at the Mayo Clinic, the couple moved to Rochester, MN. There the couple had two children, Karen Jean, on November 19, 1963, and Mark Richard, on February 9, 1965.

Upon completion of the medical residency, the family returned to Charles’ hometown, Avoca, Pennsylvania. For a time, they lived in an attic apartment above a bakery on Main Street, a block away from Charles’ parents. Stories were told of busy little Mark tossing toys upon unsuspecting sidewalk passerbys.

Shortly after, the family moved to suburb of Scranton where Charles joined a downtown medical practice. Soon after, Pat found herself staring disbelievingly at an x-ray showing she was expecting twins, Andrew Joel and David Charles, born 1967. As Patricia would later say, she was a busy and exhausted mom with “4 under 4.” In 1974, a fifth child, Kristen Marie, blessed the family.

In 1972, Charles and Pat renovated a large French Tudor home which soon became a haven for neighbors and friends, and more often than not, strangers who were in need. Pat would be in the kitchen, ready with a warm smile and a helping hand. Her generosity and friendship were legendary and often, life-changing for both those she helped and her family members who learned by watching her.

In 1973, abortion was legalized nationally. Being a trained nurse and a devout Catholic, Patricia viewed the event as a tragedy. She became an active member of Pennsylvanians for Human Life. During the 1970’s and 1980’s she devoted long hours to educational outreach and fundraising. Once, she recounted showing a slideshow of fetal development in a local bar, stating that even if one person’s mind was changed, the effort was worth it. In the 1980 presidential campaign, she met Ronald Reagan when he visited Scranton, thanking him for his pro-life position. She was later invited to the presidential inauguration, which she attended with Charles. She personally reached out and assisted young women with troubled pregnancies. Years later, she would receive notes from women thanking her.

In 1994, Patricia and Charles sadly divorced and the marriage was annulled in 2005. Patricia moved to Hilton Head Island, becoming a member of St. Francis of the Sea Church. She volunteered at a thrift shop and was a member of the church choir. She loved golfing, tennis, and rollerblading, and was the secretary for the local chapter of the Republican party.

Patricia was a nurse, teacher, and friend to many. She cherished her five children, twenty-four grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren. She was an attentive and empathetic listener. She loved tennis and golf, dancing, sailing, and walking on the beach. She was a life-time learner, reading biographies, especially those of artists like Michelangelo, Vincent Van Gogh, and Picasso, and those of John Adams, George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson. She enjoyed music by Maria Callas, Billie Holiday, and Ella Fitzgerald. She attended operas and concerts, occasionally treating her children to Broadway performances. She liked to travel, visiting France, Ireland, Kenya (where she assisted her son Mark, and his wife Molly, as a nurse at Tumu Tumu Hospital), and China.

Patricia would often say ‘you can do anything you put your mind to!’ and took her own advice: when she was 50 years old, for example, she started a successful modeling career in NYC. Her children would periodically flip through a national women’s magazine, surprised to see their mother staring at them from an advertisement.

Pat shared her Catholic faith with anyone who would listen. Although a doctor’s wife, she was as comfortable with a homeless person as she was with a movie star (at one time hosting Glenda Jackson at her home for a weekend). She taught her children that all people, no matter how young or old, sick or vulnerable, were children of God, intrinsically valuable and worthy in His eyes, and as such, were deserving of respect and protection.

Patricia is predeceased by her father, Charles R. Schmitt, her mother, Catherine, and her brother Charles R. She is survived by her sister Marguerite (John) Igoe, of Foster City, California; her five children: Karen Clemente, Fredericksburg, VA;, Mark Druffner, Stillwater, MN; Andrew Druffner, Sammamish, WA; David Druffner, Dallas, Texas; and Kristen Gottlieb, Mount Vernon, Maine; her twenty-four grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. Her former husband, Dr. Charles Druffner, lives in Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to Partners 4 Hope Tanzania (founded by Molly and Mark Druffner) at https://p4ht.org.