Patricia Cato

1945 - 2016

Patricia Elaine Cato, 70, passed away on March 20, 2016, at Providence Alaska Medical Center from Alzheimer's disease. Patricia was born to a family of 11 children on Aug. 8, 1945, in Winston-Salem, N.C., to Bell and Emma Cato. In her teens she became the surrogate mom to four siblings, which she took very seriously. After completing two years studying cosmetology, she began working in a beauty salon and she crafted many beautiful hair styles. After several years in that field, and having raised her siblings, she was moved to leave Winston-Salem and moved to Brooklyn, N.Y., with members of Kimberly Park Holiness Church. There she made her home for more than 40 years. As she experienced declining health, she moved to Alaska, with her sister, Ciesta, in June 2009, making Anchorage her home. She worked for Lerner Corporation, in Manhattan, N.Y., in 1967, before taking up employment as a supervisor for the United States Postal Service in 1969. She continued to work for the United States Postal Service for 33 years, before retiring in 2002, from the Charlotte, N.C., postal service. Patricia became a member of Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church when she moved to Anchorage. She was a member of Kimberly Park Holiness Church when she resided in Winston-Salem, N.C. She attended Mt. Horab Church when she lived in New York. Patricia was saved, at an early age, in her teens. She loved reading the Bible and assisting her family financially and spiritually. "Trish," as we called her, was a very generous person, supporting many religious organizations and churches. She had an open hand as well as an open heart. Patricia had many interests but she loved to read and would collected many books throughout her life. She enjoyed listening to gospel and quartet music and crocheting blankets in her free time. Her family writes: "Pat was an avid crochet person. She loved creating beautiful designs of flowers and squares in the quilts she made. She crocheted over 350 quilts in her lifetime." Patricia is survived by her sister, Ciesta (David) Williams of Anchorage; brothers, Bobby (Susie) Cato of Clinton Md., Preston (Latwanda) Cato of Springdale, Md., Bernard (Beverly) Cato of Bethlehem, Pa., and George Ervin, aka Willie Cato; nieces, Diamond Williams, Jackie Cato, Adina Cato, Arniece Cato, Tajia Cato and Ashanta Cato; nephews, Chris Cato, Bobby Cato Jr., Anthony Cato, Jaye Ervin and Preston Cato Jr.; and a host of many more family members and friends. Patricia was preceded in death by her parents, Bell and Emma Cato; brothers, Chris Cato, Bell G. Cato Jr., James Cato and David Cato; and sister, Beverly Cato. Services will take place in Winston-Salem, N.C., at Clark Brown & Sons Funeral Home, 727 North Patterson Avenue, Winston-Salem, NC 27101. Bobby Cato will officiate. Pallbearers include Preston Cato, George Ervin, Jaye Ervin, James Floyd, Gerald Floyd and Bernard Cato. Patricia will be laid to rest at Evergreen Cemetery in Winston-Salem, N.C. Arrangements are with Janssen's Evergreen Memorial Chapel.