Patricia Rule Stebbins

Patricia Rule Stebbins Age 101, died at her home at 2070 Waverley Street, Palo Alto, Calif., on March 2, 2005, from heart failure. Her son, Lt. Col. Albert K. Stebbins, III of Tega Cay, SC; granddaughters, Lesley C. S. Nolan of Tallahassee FL, Dr. Martha E. Stebbins of Cary, NC, and Nancy W. Reynolds of the home; grandsons, Stephen A. Stebbins of Houston, TX and Dr. Gregory K. Stebbins of Marina del Rey, CA; her sister, Mary R. Coale of Lakeway, TX and 3 great-grandchildren survive her. Her husband, Col. Albert K. Stebbins, Jr., her daughter, Patricia S. Walker and her son, Lt. Col. Arthur R. Stebbins predeceased her.

Pat, as she was affectionately known, was an active member of a score of community and patriotic organizations such as The Garden Club of Palo Alto, Daughters of the American Revolution, Daughters of the American Colonists, First Families of Virginia, The Huguenot Society and The Mayflower Society. She held high office in a number of them. She is, perhaps, most well known for her design and production of "Braille Flags for the Blind", small variously-textured American flags that allowed blind individuals to see the flag.

Her greatest interest lay in family genealogy. Her magnum opus is her family history, The Rules and the Exceptions. It traced along more than ninety branches, some of which extended back as far as fifteen generations. Loving Mother, friend and true Army Wife, she will be sorely missed.