Patricia Ann Hegarty Orr

(August 31, 1931 -December 9, 2021)

died peacefully at home in Washington, DC, where she had lived since 2004. Her children and grandchildren were her greatest loves, and she delighted in living close to them for the past 17 years, being active participants in their lives, and

regularly gathering for family celebrations, including her recent 90th birthday party.

She is survived by her three daughters, MaryAnn

Orr Nash (Rick), Andrea Orr, Amanda Orr (Preston), and six grandchildren, Noah, Olivia, Caroline, Madeline, Gus and Susanna. She was preceded in death by her husband, Edward C. Orr, her sister, Marlene Turnbach, and her parents, Agnes McKenna Hegarty and William

Joseph Hegarty.

Patricia, who was known as Patsy as a child,

was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and later moved to Langhorne, where she lived most of her life. She attended Little Flower School before going on to earn a degree in education from West Chester State College and her master’s in elementary education from

the University of Pennsylvania, She taught elementary school in suburban Philadelphia but left the workforce shortly after she married and spent many years happily raising her three daughters. She later returned to work in a different role and became a successful

sales associate in the fragrance department at Bloomingdale’s in Willow Grove Mall.

From a young age, Patricia yearned for travel

and adventure. She spent several college summers waitressing with friends in Cape May, New Jersey. After graduating from college, she took her first of many road trips around the United States, even though she’d had little practice behind the wheel. In 1960,

she spent a memorable summer in Europe with her aunt where she studied French at the Sorbonne and saw Wilma Rudolph win a gold medal at the Rome Olympics. She inspired that sort of adventure in her children and grandchildren and encouraged them to pursue the

best educational and travel opportunities even when funds were scarce. She continued to travel well into her late eighties, with regular trips to Maine and Martha’s Vineyard and adventures to farther flung destinations like Guatemala and Turkey. In 2019, she

made her last visit to Paris before traveling on to the Middle East, where she walked the mile to the Treasury at Petra.

Patricia was a lifelong student who developed

an early love of literature and read incessantly. She was especially drawn to the work of Ernest Hemingway. She visited his homes in the U.S. and abroad and was known to introduce new and old friends to his work with gifts of books, often A

Moveable Feast. She loved poetry, spent hours with her grandchildren teaching them her favorite

verses, and displayed a talent for spoken word. When she retired to Washington, she took full advantage of the city’s resources. She volunteered at the National Gallery of Art and enjoyed meeting visitors from all over the world and learning about art through

lectures and special exhibits. For ten years, she took classes in religion and political science at Georgetown University, where she befriended her much younger peers. She was a devout Catholic and enjoyed walks to daily Mass until the pandemic hit. More than

anything, she loved meeting new people and hearing their stories, and she thrived on visits from friends of all ages in her later years.

When her own mother died, Patricia passed along

to her daughters an essay by August Wilson in which he talks of his mother’s death. Wilson wrote that the loss of one’s mother is “a

rite of passage, daunting and profound, a moment of clarity in which the responsibility of your life is fully thrust into your hands. Up until that moment, whether you knew it or not, you had been, as the gospel song puts it, ‘living on mother's prayer.’”

Though she had to accept more

care in her final years, Patricia was a devoted mother until she took her last breath. She believed in us and hoped for us, and we were fortunate to have lived on her prayer. We hope to face the future with the courage and grace she exhibited throughout her

life.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in

her name to her high school alma mater, the Little

Flower School of Philadelphia, PA. Office of Development, 1000 West Lycoming Street, Philadelphia,

PA 19140.