Patricia E. Kelly

Obituary

Patricia McAvoy Kelly, Jan. 16, 1944 – April 18, 2012 She scaled many hurdles in only a little more than 68 years. It was the final distance that was the hardest. Patricia McAvoy Kelly – who at 5’4” once cleared a makeshift blockade more than seven feet tall in four-and-a-half seconds to become the first female police officer of the West Orange Police Department in New Jersey – died April 18, 2012, at Houston Hospice of lung cancer. Leaping tall bounds at her small stature was not uncommon of her. It was the most important contribution (among many) she brought to people in her life – including her identical twin sons – who took her solid example and constant positive reinforcement to go higher than most humans ever have – to space as NASA astronauts. While she never credited herself for their accomplishments, she championed their belief in their ability to obtain the goals they set – no matter how lofty they seemed. Patricia was born Jan. 16, 1944, in Bronx, N.Y., between the end of World War II and the beginning of a time when baseball belonged to New York, a great cusp of old and new in America. She was the first child of four, daughter to Joseph McAvoy, a U.S. merchant marine officer and New York City fire boat captain, and Katherine (Turner) McAvoy, a school teacher, author and poet. Patricia attended Lakeland Regional High School in Wanaque, N.J., and later continued her education at Essex County Community College in Newark, N.J. She married and became a mother at the youthful age of 20. After the birth of her two sons who were born six minutes apart, Patricia embarked on a career that would serve her family and the public. She was an Essex county prison guard and an Essex county park police officer before she put not only her vigor but also every ounce of physical strength toward a career that spanned ten years of service before ending abruptly due to injury. Patricia was one of the first female police officers in the state of New Jersey and the first at the West Orange Police Department. She later retired from the police force to Flagler Beach, Fla., and subsequently moved to League City, Texas, to be nearer to her beloved grandchildren. She is warmly remembered as a generous, compassionate and tolerant woman who was always at the helm ready to help and never judged others or their shortcomings. Family was first as were her pets. But she always found time to dip her brush in her own soul and fill an empty canvas with swirls of brilliant hues; nurture seedlings into fair white, rose or tiny yellow kind and tune the frenetic cadence of life to strums or hums that pleased her aesthetics. She was thrifty but generous to others in need. Her fervor for art, gardening, music, charity and animals is very much alive today through her loved ones who survive her. She is survived by her husband Richard; sons Mark and Scott; daughter-in-law Gabrielle Giffords; sisters Maureen and Kelly McAvoy; brother Dan McAvoy; grandchildren Samantha, Claudia, Claire and Charlotte; and mother's widower Timothy Gould. She was preceded in death by her father, Joseph McAvoy, mother Katherine (McAvoy) Gould, and brother William (Bill) McAvoy. Public viewing will be held at Forest Park East Funeral Home and Cemetery(www.forestparkeast-fhc.com) in Webster, Texas, south of Houston Sat., April 28, from 6 to 8 p.m. followed by the funeral on Sun., April 29, at 1 p.m.