Patricia Ann Castro

CASTRO Patricia Ann (nee Robinson) died on Wednesday, October 27th, after a twelve-year battle with metastatic bone cancer. She displayed high courage and heroic stoicism in the face of unremitting pain and never lost her will to survive. She was 72. Pat was born in Lynchburgh, Virginia and spent much of her early life in Oak Ridge, Tennessee where her father worked on the Manhattan Project. She was blessed with both artistic and writing skills, choosing to pursue the former at Pratt Institute. There she met her husband of 52 years, John. They married and after graduation moved to New Jersey where she became the mother of a daughter Connie and a son Christopher. She and her family would settle in River Edge and remain for 43 years. Always a loving wife, devoted mother, classic homemaker and lifelong gardener, she maintained her interest in outside activities. She was active in women's issues and the formation of Northern New Jersey NOW. Her feminist activities included advocating on television and demonstrating in Trenton. An avid and retentive reader, she became expert in native American history and culture. A special fondness for the PreColumban Indians of Central America led to exploratory trips to Mexico and the Yucatan with her husband. With her children grown, she entered the business world. A former high school Salutatorian and honors math graduate, she transformed herself into a skilled indoor salesperson of industrial mechanisms, valves and pumps for several companies, lastly at General Rubber Company in South Hackensack. The high point of her working life occurred in 1983 when her mathematical acumen led her to detect manufacturing errors in the complex specifications for two million-dollar-plus super-sized valves slated for installation in the nuclear power plant at Indian Point. The faulty valves were intercepted and never installed. In later life her reading widened and she began to participate in book clubs in River Edge and Hackensack, until her illness prevented. Her life was filled with challenges, all of which she met and mastered intelligently, honestly and efficiently. She was known for her sense of fair play, and carried the authenticity and achievement that defined her life with modesty and grace. She will be sorely and grievously missed but never forgotten. Surviving her are her husband John, a retired advertising art director, her daughter Connie, son-in-law Joseph Murray and grandchildren Lauren and Tommy of Atlantic Highlands as well as her son Chris and her daughter-in-law Victoria of Pawtucket, Connecticut. There will be a memorial service at Beaugard Funeral Home 869 Kinderkamack Rd, River Edge, on November 5th, 7-9 PM.