Patricia Trenner Obituary

Patricia Trenner
June 21, 1949 - October 11, 2022
Patricia Dann Trenner, 73, formerly of Danbury, Connecticut, passed away on October 11, 2022, at her home in Fairfax, Virginia. Born in Danbury on June 21, 1949, she was the only child of the late Frederick J. Trenner and the late Nancy Dann (Wilson) Trenner. She is survived by several cousins and stepsiblings - one of them, Cynthia McCorkindale of Bethel.
Patricia attended Western Connecticut State College, and, for a short time, was a photojournalist for the Danbury News-Times. In the 1970s, she went to work for Conn-Mooney Aircraft Sales and obtained her private pilot's license. She later went on to Flying Magazine, and in 1986 she was hired onto the staff of the Smithsonian Institution's Air & Space Magazine, which at the time was planning its inaugural issue. Over the years, she rose up the ranks, and in 2012, retired as Senior Editor.
During her career, Patricia interviewed scores of well-known aviators and wrote hundreds of articles on virtually every aspect of the industry - from the earliest flights to space travel to more quirky topics such as wing-walking, which she learned to do for the article.
Patricia's great passions were reading, photography, ballet, movies and lobster rolls from Harris Teeter. She was very loved and admired by her loyal circle of friends, especially for her quick wit and irreverent sense of humor.
In the years after her retirement, Patricia volunteered daily at a local humane society. Because of her lifelong love of rabbits, she focused on caring for the rabbit population at the shelter.
As she requested, Patricia's cremated remains will be dispersed on the beach at Montauk Point, Long Island, New York.
If you would like to acknowledge Patricia's passing, please consider a donation in her memory to The Humane Society of Fairfax County, Inc., 4057 Chain Bridge Road, Fairfax, VA 22030.

To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.

Published by Danbury News Times on Jan. 17, 2023.

Memories and Condolences
for Patricia Trenner

5 Entries

Chad Slattery

July 10, 2024

It was November 1994. The assignment centered on landing signal officers, and I don't know which was better--being onboard the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln, or hanging out with Pat for a few days. Her intelligence, saucy haircut, cute looks, ready laugh, and rapier wit impressed the hell out of me. In carrier parlance, she caught me on her three wire.

On a later trip to DC, she introduced me to opera, one of her true passions, by dragging me to Carmen Burana. I loved it. She opened the window to a new world and let me look through it; she did the same thing for her readers.

But of all her wonderful qualities, I most appreciated her honesty. And the way she could sugarcoat it. Nobody could reject a story proposal so decisively, with so much kindness. It was the literary equivalent of enjoying a Vicodin high right before a lethal injection.

Pat was a perfect editor. When I knew she was editing me, I was either a much worse writer ("Pat will fix this") or much better ("This has to meet Pat's over-the-top standards"). She quickly became my favorite. I totally trusted her to understand my intent, condense the paragraphs, chop the excess, find the perfect word, and shape 400 nouns and verbs into a tight 300 word essay I'd be proud to claim as my own. Pat has always been a triage expert, a writer's best emergency room doctor.

Aviation, journalism, our beloved magazine, the Soundings column, and this aviation photojournalist are going to so miss you, Pat. Thank you for bringing out the very best in all of us.

Chad Slattery

Thomas

February 7, 2024

Love you, Pat.
May the wind be on your tail.
L, TK

Your Pete

July 16, 2023

Love you, sweetheart

Ken Smith

January 21, 2023

I met Pat at the Antique Airplane Association fly-in in Blakesburg, Iowa in 1976. She was on assignment for Flying magazine, and I for Plane & Pilot magazine. We hit it off, and from then on kept in touch with birthday cards and holiday cards, emails. This year, my holiday card to Pat was returned to sender. I have just found that she has passed away and it breaks my heart. She was a lovely person. Tho we met in person only one time, our correspondence made us close friends. I will miss her.

The Solmers

January 20, 2023

Remembering Pat fondly. She inherited her love of airplanes from her father, who had beautiful model planes hanging from the ceiling in the family room. We've often thought of her, while sorry that we never kept in touch. She was a pip. Wherever she goes, she'll make it a better place for her being there.

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