Patricia Harriet Ravage Dahlberg

Patricia Harriet Ravage Dahlberg April 9, 1929 - December 20, 2019 La Jolla Patricia Harriet Ravage Dahlberg, a historic preservationist, community activist, publisher, award-winning journalist, and beloved wife, mother, and grandmother, died on December 20, 2019, at the age of 90. Pat was born on April 9, 1929, in New York City to David and Margaret Kelly Ravage. She was the second of four children. Pat's family frequently moved throughout the New York City area during the Great Depression. To help support the family, Pat and her sisters modeled clothing for the Girl Scouts of America and appeared in many publications on behalf of the Girl Scouts. In 1942, Pat's family moved to Oak Ridge, Tennessee, where her father worked on the Manhattan Project at Union Carbide Corp. Pat graduated from Oak Ridge High School in 1946 and the University of Tennessee in 1950 with a degree in history. She was a member of the Kappa Delta sorority. After graduation, Pat worked at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), where she won the Miss ORNL beauty pageant and was crowned Miss ORNL of 1951. In 1953, Pat left ORNL to see the world. She became a train passenger representative hostess for the Southern Railway traveling regularly between Cincinnati, Ohio, and Jacksonville, Florida. One year later, after having had had enough train travel to last a lifetime, Pat returned to ORNL, this time as an administrative assistant. While there, she met a young nuclear physicist, Dick Dahlberg, studying at ORNL. Six months later, they were married. In 1956, Pat and Dick moved to Schenectady, New York, where Dick worked at the General Electric Co. In 1957, Robin Lee was born. Three years later, Julia Ann joined the family. Dick soon decided that shoveling snow was not for him, and the family relocated to La Jolla, California, in 1964, where Dick had accepted a position at General Atomics. One year later, Pat and Dick's third daughter, Andrea Craig, popped up.Pat studied journalism at San Diego State and, in the early 1970s, became a reporter for the La Jolla Light, receiving many journalism awards for her reporting. She left the La Jolla Light to start her own publication, the La Jolla Report, which grew into the La Jolla Magazine, the first magazine dedicated to La Jolla newsmakers and news.In the 1990s and early 2000s, Pat was the President and Executive Director of the La Jolla Historical Society. She used her wits, ingenuity, and well-honed powers of persuasion to preserve and protect La Jolla's historic character and charm. She worked with the Revelle Family to donate the 100-year-old Wisteria Cottage on Prospect Street to the Society and launched a capital campaign to renovate the cottage. She worked diligently to have the Audrey Geisel University House (the private residence of the Chancellor of USCD) listed on the National Register of Historic Places.And, for many years, Pat fought to protect Pottery Canyon, a historic site located off of Torrey Pines Road named after the La Jolla Clay Products Company. Situated at the entrance to the canyon, the La Jolla Clay Products Company was founded by the Rodriguez family in 1928, and its handmade tiles and adobe bricks were used to restore Mission San Diego de Alcal and in the construction of many La Jolla buildings.The San Diego Save Our Heritage Organization recognized Pat's hard work and conferred upon her a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014. Pat was also a passionate volunteer with La Jolla public schools, the San Diego Girl Scouts, the Sierra Club, the La Jolla Town Council, and numerous other La Jolla community groups. She enjoyed giving back and helping to develop a sense of community in La Jolla.In addition to Dick and her three daughters, Pat has three sons-in-law, Brian, Jim and Ted, and five grandchildren, Callie, Cort, Gracie, Hayden, and Margaux, all of whom remember her for her feisty personality, her sense of humor and her love of Hersey's kisses, jelly beans and frosty freezes from the fast-food restaurant, Wendy's. Donations in Pat's honor may be made to the San Diego Girl Scouts at https://thinmint.sdgirlscouts.org/tribute.php or to the La Jolla Historical Society, at https://lajollahistory.org/support or by phone at 858.459.5335. Please sign the guest book online at legacy.com/obituaries/ lajollalight