Charles "Connie" Crenshaw (1958)

Joan Carol Sacre (Dunn) (1964)

Pat was the cutest cheerleader in high school! Her disposition was sunny and enthusiastic. I so enjoyed talking to her for quite a while at the 45th class reunion. She will be missed.   Joan  Sacre Dunn, AHS class of 1964

Francis Carter (Buddy) Withers (1965)

Pat lived down the street from me, off Locust Avenue.  I remember her as being a very pretty girl and vivacious.  We used to sled together on snowy days, off from school. She will be sorely missed.

Paul Andrew Carmody (1964)

Pat was a great friend in high school and beyond as we kept in touch periodically. We became even better friends after, I think, the 20th class reunion when Pat, myself and several others decided to get together for an evening in C'ville each Christmas vacation. We continued this for many years with the group dwindling to us, Harriet and Richard and Ernie. They were always fun, comfortable and friendly get-togethers until grandchildren changed our Christmas location from C'ville.

I wish I could be at the service today, but circumstances prevent me from being in C'ville this week. I'll miss you Pat as I miss all the "old" group.

Linda Lee Beasley (Graham) (1965)

I was in the Class of 1965 and remember Pat as very enthusiastic with a tremendous school spirit. I can still see her jumping high and smiling as she cheered! God Bless Pat and her loved ones. Linda Beasley Graham

Sheila Trunzo (1964)

Hi, Classmates, from Sheila Trunzo.  Yesterday was Pat's funeral.  I think there were 50 to 60 people there, maybe more.  We had nine classmates who attended.  Bettie Amiss and I sat together, and Harriett Lombard Orrock, Shelby Terrell, and Faye Tirrell were there.  We were the 'locals' in addition to Connie Crenshaw, class of '58, founder of the Alumni Association.  Dana Sharpe Kinney and Vincent Kinney drove down from New York, and Richard Wood and his wife, Ernie, drove up from South Carolina.  Jim Pyles drove down from D.C.

The minister did not know Pat and invited comments from the group, and there were so many people who stood for Pat and told a story about her humor, her personality, her enthusiasm, her ability to hold onto friends throughout her entire lifetime.  We laughed and we cried and we all remembered a bit more about her with each person's words.  There were friends from her childhood, high school, college, from her years working at Social Security in Maryland, and new friends and neighbors she had just met when she moved back to Charlottesvile this summer.  Jim spoke about knowing Pat most of his life and how they were lifelong friends.  Pat's family was so gracious and happy to meet all of us, wanting to know where each person was from.  It brought home to me how many different groups of Pat's friends were represented there yesterday, from all the places she had lived over the years down to new friends made in the past few months.

Afterward, several classmates seemed to gravitate together.  Hugs, smiles, tears, and promises to keep in touch were exchanged.  One whispered in my ear, 'We are mortal.'  It was what the best funerals are, the celebration of a life and how it affected each of us.

Pat was working with me, Harriet and Boyd Knott on the 50th AHS reunion committee.  She was the hostess for the meetings and she remembered every single person in our class.  She couldn't understand why people who lived in the area had never come to a reunion, and talked about getting everybody's attention this time and getting them to come.  That was Pat.  She loved to bring people together.

Sheila Trunzo

Delmas Wayne Carver (1963)

I also attended the funeral yesterday.  I was from the class of 1963 and did know her from school, however not well.  In later years my uncle married her mother and we became extended family and saw each other mostly at family functions.  She was as everyone remembered her yesterday in their comments, and I know Anice, her mother, was soothed by and appreciated all the kind words.

Ray Berry (1964)

I wish I could have been to the service on Monday, family matters kept me close to home. I enjoyed so much seeing and reacquainting with Pat at the 45^th reunion. She was one of those cherished, special people I knew as a schoolmate at McIntire and then for a while at Albemarle. Those pictures we exchanged and then put in the “special person” section of our photo memories.  She was just the cutest person and had a charm and energy that was special. She was one of my first “girlfriends”…isn’t it nice to think how innocent and wonderful that term was in those days? It makes me feel happy though, to see who was able to show up for her…Jimmy and Dana and Shelby…goodness, I’m back at McIntire now…thinking about how important all of you were to me. I’m so sorry that I won’t be able to see Pat at the next reunion…and thanks, Sheila for that wonderful take on the service…that helps us all. Thinking about all of you...

Ray

James Calvin Pyles (1964)

Below are my comments from the memorial for Pat Blackwell Pyles:

We come to celebrate the life of Patricia Ann Blackwell Pyles. 

Pat was one of those people who made everyone around her feel better about themselves.

I remember her with her red wool cheerleading skirt, white wool sweater and impossibly blond hair with silver highlights.

Pat was one of my oldest and dearest friends. We met in the fifth grade and we thought of her as a member of our family from that point on.

Our marriage ended after seven years, but our friendship never did, and that says volumes about the kind of person Pat was.

Many people have passed along stories about Pat to me over the past week.  How she set up trips and events with different groups of friends from Ferrum College, Baltimore, and even friends from elementary school. 

How she worked to cut through red tape and get Social Security payments to beneficiaries in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina.  She was proud of the fact that her efforts brought relief to those who really needed it.

A memory I have is when she and I were traveling somewhere in my Triumph TR 250 with the top up and the windows down, and did not know where we were going. Pat was struggling to unfold and understand a map, and I was getting impatient to know where to turn. Finally, in frustration, Pat said “well, I don’t know” and threw the map over her head. The wind caught it and blew it out the window. We looked at each other in stunned disbelief and then both burst out laughing.

As we celebrate Pat’s life, we should ask, what would Pat want if she were here. She would want us all to get together, hug each other and then swap stories and laugh. Pat’s life was a glorious life, and it was a privilege to call her my friend. 

Jim Pyles