Patricia Shaw Hockmeyer

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- Patricia Shaw Hockmeyer, 79, a former Lowell resident who owned an interior-decorating business in the Merrimack Valley, died Monday, Nov. 20, in Chapel Hill, where she had lived for the past 10 years.

She was the wife of former Lowell City Councilor Vincent Hockmeyer, who died in 1998. She would have celebrated her 80th birthday on Nov. 23.

She grew up in Lafayette, La., and in 1944, married Vincent, who was a captain in Army Air Forces while serving in World War II. The couple settled in Lowell, where her husband was president of Vertipile, Inc. and served on the City Council in the 1950s.

She lived in New York City and later Boston, before moving to Chapel Hill. She was an Ada Comstock Scholar at Smith College, where she received her bachelor's degree in psychology at the age of 61.

Mrs. Hockmeyer was a passionate gardener and was active in the Lowell Garden Club and the Massachusetts Horticultural Society. She also had an interest in interior decoration, owning her own Bay State business in Andover, Mass., and Martha's Vineyard, Mass.

She is survived by her sons, Vincent, Erik, Mark and Craig; and a brother, Raymond Shaw.