Pat was born in southport on the 8th of October 1955 and was the youngest of three Children. Elaine being the oldest, then Kenneth, then little Pat.

Their Father had been in the Navy and Pat duly followed his footsteps and joined the Wrens in 1974 as a Photographer and was posted to FPU after training.

I first met Pat in 1975 when I came down from Faslane to do my killicks course at RNSAP. She was on the committee of the Whaley Club and I was trying to get in to an event without a ticket and she was having none of it! After that shaky start we became firm friends and laughed about that frosty introduction many times over the years.

I also got drafted to FPU (again) after my course and every day working with Pat there was filled with fun and laughter and a little work! She was known to startle easily so one day when she was duty phot, one of the guys ( can’t remember who now) lay in waiting on the floor in the light trap and grabbed her ankle as she was locking up. A few of us were hiding to surprise her and she screamed the place down when she felt the hand on her ankle making us all howl and unable to speak with laughter.

Pat was very easygoing and quick to laughter and it was so easy to be her lifelong friend.

While at Whale Island she met her future husband Rob Saunders when he was on a course there and they were married in Southport with many RN Photographers in attendance so you can imagine the stag night and hen party. In those days the stag party was the night before the wedding and Rob did not look his best in fact we were amazed he made the ceremony. Pat was a beautiful bride, a typical raven haired beauty and Rob although green around the gills, was very smart in his rig and white ribboned uniform bow.

After they married, they moved back to Southport to continue their married life there near to Pat’s family and they spent many years together and adopting a rather crazy springer spaniel called footsie!

Sadly the marriage didn’t stand the test of time and Pat found herself alone but with her family and many friends to support her.

She had a love of antiques and curios and, with her friend Rob Reed from the Courts Service, would scour the auction houses, boot sales and jumble sales for unusual and delightful objet d’arts for her period house. She had impeccable taste and especially loved the art deco period.

Pat had joined the Civil Service on returning home and worked in the Courts as a court Clerk and worked her way up to Higher Executive Officer. She worked at Liverpool Crown Court and found herself working on the Jamie Bulger trial, which caused her some profound distress when the details of the horrific crime were outlined, some of which the public were not privy to.

Pat took early retirement from the Civil Service and vowed to take the summer off before she’d look for something else to do. She enjoyed the summer so much it led to another summer and another and she found that she could manage very well thank you very much so she continued with her love of scouring for antique treasures. I often said she’d be an asset to the antiques roadshow crew.

Pat kept herself busy and she needed intellectual stimulation as she had a high IQ and was a member of Mensa. She’d go to Portmeirion on annual Mensa events and there met a very handsome Texan called Dan.

They kept in touch and saw each other when they could and Pat would travel to the US to see him but the distance proved to be too big a barrier.

Pat and I always kept in touch and would meet up as often as we could. When I retired we had more opportunities to meet up and did some globetrotting together. We went to Vietnam, Florida and at one time both had campervans so we’d meet up and have little expeds in the Cotswolds and the Lake District.

Needing that mental stimulation Pat joined the University of the third age (U3A) and was involved in many of the satellite groups, wine tasting being one of her favourites, attagirl.

About 15 years ago Pat adopted a little Jack Russell ‘Bertie’ and he was her constant companion till only a short time ago when he sadly passed on the 8th December 2023.

Her ex-husband Rob Saunders was diagnosed with lung cancer and passed away on 31st January 2024 and although she and Rob were not in contact, she told me that this had saddened her and that she still remembered and appreciated the good years that they’d had.

In October 2023 I learned that the RNPA annual reunion was to be held in Liverpool, not far from Pats home in Southport. I said to her ‘shall I come up and we can go together?’ ‘It would be rude not to’ was her immediate reply. So we duly went and had a fabulous time, she was delighted to see Danny Du Feu again as we’d all worked together at FPU. Pat and I went to the Wrens Museum at the Western Approaches Museum in Liverpool and were delighted to find a large poster print of Cath Todd there. We identified her for the Museum and when they found out we were ex wrens they gave us a complimentary book about the Wrens of WATU, we had a truly magical weekend, never thinking it would be our last time spent together.

Pat had been diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat a couple of years ago and despite two procedures to get the heart back into rhythm, it couldn’t be achieved and she was awaiting further treatment plans. Sadly Pat became ill quite suddenly with Influenza type A and was admitted to hospital where she passed away peacefully on Monday 11th March surrounded by her loving family.

I am so proud to have been Pat’s close friend for almost 50 years and her loss is keenly felt.
Fair winds and following seas Pat.

Glynis (Glymps) Shaw

More pictures of our shipmate below… Rest in Peace Pat. We will remember you forever.