Sarah Patricia "Pat" Queen

1931 - 2020

Sarah Patricia "Pat" Queen

Pensacola - Sarah Patricia "Pat" Queen (neé Simpson), 89, passed away peacefully Monday, February 10, 2020.

Pat was born in Greenville, NC on October 10, 1931, the third daughter and fourth child of Howard Jesse and Allie (Tingle) Simpson. She attended East Carolina Teachers College (now East Carolina University) for two years before quitting to become a telephone operator. In 1950 she met Edward L. Queen, a US Marine stationed in North Carolina. They married in 1954. They raised two sons, Edward L. Queen II, born in 1958, and Russell F. Queen, born in 1962.

From 1954 until Edward's retirement in 1973, they lived the typical peripatetic lives of a military family moving regularly from duty station to duty station. Throughout this time Pat demonstrated the resilience and steely determination typically masked by her kind manner and warm disposition, raising her sons amidst multiple moves and Edward's foreign deployments including his 13 months in Vietnam (1967-1968).

In 1970, with both her children in school, Pat found her true calling, as an educator, called upon to establish the school library at Robinson Springs Elementary School in Robinson Springs, AL. For the next 19 years, until her retirement from the Bay County School System in Bay County, FL, she spent her professional life as a teacher's aide, with a one-year stint as director of the Community Action Agency (CAA) in Elmore County, AL. During her 14 years at Lynn Haven Elementary School in Lynn Haven, FL, she was known for her gift at teaching math to struggling students who just "could not get it." She was particularly proud of both her sons who followed her into education, one as an elementary school teacher and principal, the other as a college professor.

Pat became an accidental "animal rescuer," taking in and taking care of cats, dogs, (and once a bird), that had been abandoned, mistreated, or just lost. This was just one manifestation of her openness to those suffering and in need. She was, indeed, an incredibly decent human being.

In 1994, the Queens moved to Pensacola where they lived a quiet life around the corner from their younger son, Russell, and his family. Their social lives revolved around their membership in the local Moose Lodge and visits from their children's families.

Pat is preceded in death by her sisters, Marie Worsley, Virginia Umphlett, and Billie Jean Trevathan; her brother, Howard Jesse Simpson, Jr.; her nephew, Albert Douglas (Doug) Umphlett and niece, Alice Marie Umphlett Covington.

Survivors include her husband, Edward L. Queen; two sons, Edward L. Queen, II and Russell F. Queen; two daughters-in-law, Hallie Segal and Diana Queen; grandsons, Jonah Queen and Connor Queen; granddaughters, Sarah Queen and Anna Lura Queen.

Visitation will be held 5-7pm Wednesday, February 12, 2020 at Harper-Morris Memorial Chapel. Funeral Cortege will depart Harper-Morris Memorial Chapel at 8:30am Thursday, February 13, 2020 for a Graveside Service starting at 9:00am at Barrancas National Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to A.K. Suter Elementary School, 501 Pickens Ave., Pensacola, FL 32503 or to Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Georgia Chapter, 57 Executive Park S., Suite 380, Atlanta, GA 30329 (https://fightcf.cff.org/site/Donation2;jsessionid=00000000.app263a?df_id=1620&1620.donation=form1&s_chapter=1021&NONCE_TOKEN=4A674069414635CF4DE735F6C4C2631F)