Patricia Hackman

Patricia Elizabeth Hackman died at her home in Jacksonville, FL on June 21, 2022, after a long battle with cancer. She was the daughter of Howard and Margaret Lightcap, and granddaughter of Michael and Catherine Schmitt, longtime residents of 11 Centre Avenue, Secaucus, NJ. She was a 1968 graduate of Holy Rosary Academy in Union City. Patricia is survived by her husband of 50 years, Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) Benjamin Hackman, a 1971 graduate of the United State Military Academy. They were married at West Point in December 1971, shortly before her husband departed to serve in Vietnam for a year. Over the next 19 years their duty stations included, Germany, Italy, two tours at West Point, and The Pentagon, before her husband deployed again for Desert Storm.

Upon her husband’s retirement from the Army in 1991, the couple settled in Alexandria, VA where Patricia worked for 25 years for the Honorable Anthony J. Trenga, first as a legal secretary and then legal assistant in private practice. Upon his appointment in 2008 to the federal judiciary, as a District Court Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Patricia became his Judicial Assistant until she retired in 2014.

In addition to her husband, Patricia is survived by her first cousins Michael Vaclavicek and his wife Patricia, and Michele Galese; second cousins Renee, Meredith, Patti-Ann, Dawn, Tori, and Alexandra; and third cousins Jacob, Michael, Danielle, Brandon, Dylan, Angelina, Sydney, Deklan, Finn, and Camren. Patricia is also especially remembered by her Best Friend Forever of 58 years, and fellow cancer warrior, Linda Spath Scovzen.

The viewing will be at Mack Memorial Home in Secaucus, NJ from 4 to 8 pm, Thursday, July 7. 2022. A Mass will be held the following morning at 9:30 at Immaculate Conception Church, followed internment at Holy Cross Cemetery and Mausoleum in North Arlington. After her internment, a repast in Patricia’s memory will be held at Lassoni’s Restaurant, also on Ridge Avenue in North Arlington.

In lieu of flowers, Patricia asked that donations be sent to the Mayo Clinic, under whose incredible care she was able to live almost 5 years after the initial diagnosis.