Charlotte Dudley Patteson

PATTESON, Charlotte Dudley, 89, of Irvington, died January 14, 2009. She was the widow of Moncure P. Patteson. She was a community leader and an active fundraiser for many causes. Born in Richmond, she was the daughter of B. Roy Dudley Jr. and Esther May Gary. Her devotion to community was inspired by her father's civic generosity and service. Mr. Dudley lost the Richmond mayoral race in 1936 by the smallest margin in that position's 226-year history. Mrs. Patteson graduated from John Marshall High School and attended Westhampton College of the University of Richmond. Mrs. Patteson was notably the third female teller in Richmond banking, a role traditionally held by men. She ultimately married a banker, Moncure P. Patteson, who later retired as Vice Chairman of the Board of United Virginia Bankshares, then Virginia's largest bank. They retired to Irvington in 1972. While in Richmond, she served as president of the Ginter Park Junior Woman's Club, then the State's largest, and as president of the St. Paul's Episcopal Churchwomen. A victim of polio as a child, she served as a board member of the Crippled Children's Hospital. Completely paralyzed and at times in a coma at the age of nine, her road to complete recovery was an inspiration to recovering children. Her Irvington causes included serving as chairperson of the Historic Christ Church Volunteer organization and as a prolific fundraiser for Historic Christ Church. She was a board member of the Rappahannock Westminster- Canterbury Foundation, the Lancaster County Chapter of the American Red Cross and the Northern Neck Chapter of the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities. She was a member of the Northern Neck Historical Society and the Cobbs Hall Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. She was a former member of The Country Club of Virginia, Indian Creek Yacht and Country Club, and the Rappahannock River Yacht Club. Survivors include three children, Dudley Moncure Patteson of Irvington and his wife, Peggy, Gary Owen Patteson of Princeton, N.J. and his wife, Karen, Mrs. Anne Roy Richardson of Alexandria and her husband, Britt; and a brother, Roger Williams Dudley of Falls Church. She is survived by eight grandchildren, Esther and Tack Richardson, John, William and James Patteson, Mark Hollingsworth, and Holly and Jarrott Patteson; and four great-grandchildren. A funeral service will be held Saturday, January 17, at 11 a.m. at Grace Episcopal Church in Kilmarnock, followed by a graveside service at the Historic Christ Church Burying Ground. The family requests memorial contributions be made in her name to Historic Christ Church in Irvington, Rappahannock Westminster-Canterbury Foundation, Inc. in Irvington, and the Children's Hospital Foundation in Richmond.
This obituary was originally published in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.