ROSEMARY PATTON

Rosemary Dundas Patton
Died on October 23 of cancer at her daughter's home in Piedmont, Calif. with her family by her side. Rosemary was born on December 16, 1933, in the southern Cotswolds of England, second of five children of Vice Admiral John G.L. Dundas and Ruth Coleman of Minneapolis. She spent her childhood in England and Scotland. After the war, she moved with her family to North Carolina, where she attended Southern Pines High School and Duke University, graduating in 1954.
While at Duke, she met Robert Gray Patton, then a medical student. They were married on October 2, 1954. After Gray completed military service and medical training in pediatrics, they moved in 1961 to San Francisco with two young daughters, Mary and Sarah. A third daughter, Susannah, was born three years later. From the start, Rosemary enjoyed a rich life in San Francisco, spending weekends with the family at Steep Ravine, near Stinson Beach, and summer vacations in the Sierra, where she developed a love of the mountains that lasted her entire life. From her childhood in England, she was an avid horseback rider, and later enjoyed tennis and hiking locally, in the Sierra and other mountains, from the Cascades to the Alps.
Encouraged by her friend Sue Renfrew, she trained as a docent at the Asian Art Museum. She then became chair of the docent council and board member of the Museum Society of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. While she was busy with children's activities and volunteer work, Rosemary maintained a keen interest in literature and writing. She earned a teaching credential and then a Master's degree in English literature in 1980 from San Francisco State University. She then taught composition and literature in the English department there for 15 years.
Reading and writing took on a central role in Rosemary's life. With her colleague Sheila Cooper, she published a college textbook "Writing Logically, Thinking Critically" in 1990. The seventh edition went to press in 2012. Over the years she enjoyed and at times led several book groups, including the Parachutists, a group of San Francisco women still meeting 40 years after they first convened. After retiring from San Francisco State, Rosemary joined a small group that took up memoir writing and published two books, "The Subject of Our Lives" and "Proust, Pickles, and Paychecks." During this time, she also served on the boards of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland and the Mechanics Institute in San Francisco.
Rosemary will be missed by her family and many friends for her warmth, humor, intelligence and, especially, her good conversation. As described by a close friend, she was "the perfect blend of an active mind with a generous, all-encompassing heart." Her curiosity and adventurous spirit led her to explore California and the Western states widely, and also to travel extensively in Europe, Asia and South America. When at home, she always had time for her five grandsons, who each enjoyed a special trip with her and Gray when they turned 11.
She is survived by her husband, Robert Gray Patton; daughters Mary Patton (Roger Phelps), Sarah Patton (Peter Feichtmeir) and Susannah Patton (Christopher Noble); sisters Deirdre Newton and Alexandra Todd; brother John Dundas; grandsons Robert Phelps, Nicholas Phelps, Ian Feichtmeir, Samuel Noble and Thomas Noble. She was preceded in death by her sister, Elgiva Watson.
A celebration of Rosemary's life will take place on January 5, 2013, at the Observation Post in the Presidio, 211 Lincoln Blvd., San Francisco, CA. In lieu of flowers, please consider donations in her name to the Helen Diller UCSF Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, the Yosemite Conservancy, or the San Francisco Achievers Program, 2526 Vallejo St., San Francisco, CA 94123.