She taught her children, with love, that “life’s not fair”, then lived that reality for the last years of her life. Now she’s found peace - she passed away in her sleep on May 25th, 2018.
Born in St. Louis on April 17th, 1937, Pat was the first child and only daughter of Eileen and Lester Mitchell. Since her father was in the Army Corps of Engineers, the family moved numerous times around the southeastern US before settling in Tullahoma, TN, where Pat graduated from high school in nearby Shelbyville in 1955. She attended the University of Tennessee before working at Arnold Air Force Base which is where the met her life-long partner, Marvin Warner. Marv was an engineer with IBM and they were married on September 17, 1961. Pat and Marv began raising a family as IBM moved them from Chattanooga, TN, to Atlanta, then Fairfax VA, and finally to Raleigh.
Pat was involved in numerous volunteer and community organizations throughout her life. She was a part of the Panel of American Women, volunteered with the American Cancer Society, assisted refugee families arriving in the United States, and was extensively involved in the League of Women Voters. She was also a Girl Scout Leader, PTA volunteer, was on the nurturing committee for Habitat for Humanity. She and Marv traveled the world in a never-ending quest to connect and learn. Even after suffering a stroke in 2010, Pat could be found demonstrating for things she valued, including participating in the Moral Monday demonstrations.
In 1962, Pat and Marv welcomed their son Mike, followed by daughters Beth in 1963, Kathy in 1965, and son Tim in 1968. Pat was always involved in her children’s lives as a volunteer room mother, swim team and soccer mom, and moral and social compass who taught her children to value all people stressing empathy, acceptance, tolerance, and social justice.
Pat was predeceased by Marv, and her brothers Bill and Andy. She is survived by her brothers Jim and wife Judy, and John and wife Nancy; Andy’s wife Heather; and a broad sisterhood of friends in Raleigh. She leaves behind her children Mike and his wife Cathy, Beth and her husband Neil Williams, Kathy Phillips, and Tim and his wife Angela. She was extremely proud of her grandchildren Heather and Shelley Warner, Mitch and Zack Williams, Haley and Jena Phillips, and Olivia and Chase Warner.
A celebration of Pat's life will be held at 18 Seaboard restaurant on Sunday, June 3, at 2:00 p.m.
Pat and Marv had a passion for social justice and supported many related causes. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the League of Women Voters of Wake County. https://www.lwvwake.org/support-the-league/
