Patricia Altwegg Brown Fitzgerald, of Hampton, Virginia passed away on May 8, at the age of 86. Born on May 6, 1932 to Robert and Genevieve (Bonnewell) Altwegg, in Newport News, Virginia, Patricia ("Pat") grew up in Hilton Village with her sister Betty; she graduated from Warwick High School in 1950, and from Longwood College with a B.S. in Elementary Education in 1954. In 1956, after working as a teacher for two years, Pat married Raymond M. Brown Jr., well-known yachtsman on the Chesapeake Bay, and soon settled in Hampton's Grandview neighborhood, where they raised 4 children. Ray (who died in 1984) spent many hours devoted to working on and racing sailboats, while Pat devoted countless hours on community service. At various times, she served as the president of the Newport News Girls' Club and of the Junior League of Hampton Roads, and also served as chairman of the Peninsula United Way Women's Division Fund Drive, and served on the Board of Visitors of Longwood College for two terms. She was active in the establishment of the Grandview Nature Preserve and the Virginia Living Museum. In the mid 1970's, Pat returned to school to earn a master's degree in education and taught remedial reading for two years in the Hampton Public School system.

Upon retirement from teaching, Pat began running, and eventually progressed to running marathons, completing three marathons in the 1980's; later, she turned to biking, and also became an avid bird-watcher and skilled flower-arranger. In 1989, she moved to King William, Virginia (and was married to William Fitzgerald), where she was a founding member of the Garden Club of the Middle Peninsula, and an active member of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Miller's Tavern, Virginia. Pat loved her life "in the country," and had at any time between two and six dogs, and multiple cats. In 2016, Pat moved back to Grandview (with only one dog and three cats), settling on Adriatic Drive. From the sun room of her last home, she could look out across the nature preserve that she helped to establish, enjoying the sunrise in the morning, the play of light and clouds across the marsh, the flight of the great blue heron, and an occasional rainbow after a storm.

Patricia will be sorely missed by her children Skip, Susan, Rob, and Jim and their spouses, Jen, Mark, Jo and Roxanne, and her six grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held at St. John's Episcopal Church in Hampton on May 23 at 11:00 am.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made the Peninsula SPCA.