Patricia Mary Heppeard, 90, died Thursday, Feb. 22, 2018, at South Peninsula Hospital.
“It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved mother Patricia Mary (Tobin) Heppeard,” her family said.
She was a resident of the Long Term Care Unit. She was preceded in death by her brothers Richard Tobin and Daniel Tobin.
Patricia was born in Buffalo, New York, on May 21, 1927, to Daniel and Mary Tobin and was the middle of three children. After graduating from high school she went to work for the Buffalo Evening News as the assistant to the general manager and on occasion modeled for the Society Page.
She married and had four children. In 1959 the family relocated to Tampa, Florida. She went to work for the Anheuser Busch Company as the assistant to the general manager. Ever the pioneer and always a northerner at heart, in 1968 they pulled up stakes and moved from Tampa to Anchorage, Alaska, one year after oil had been discovered in Prudhoe Bay. She went to work for KHAR Radio and then KIMO TV Channel 13 and became the first female Vice President in the station’s history.
In 1984, Patricia relocated to Homer, Alaska, where she worked for the state ferry system, the City of Homer Public Works Department, and the Pratt Museum. She retired at age 71.
Patricia is survived by her three daughters, Mary Lou Hovie (Steve), Susan Saxton (Allen), and Eileen Heppeard; son Daniel Heppeard; six grandchildren; Benjamin Lauer, Irene Saxton, Andrew Saxton, Eli Krauklis, Gracie Krauklis, Daniel Heppeard and Timothy Heppeard; and six great grandchildren.
Patricia loved Alaska, gardening, reading (nonfiction), completing the New York Times Sunday crossword puzzles (in ink), writing poetry under the pseudonym Emmit Manley, and most importantly, her animals. Her family is comforted in knowing that she will be greeted by her beloved pets on other side of the Rainbow Bridge.
“We would like to thank the staff at South Peninsula Hospital and the Long Term Care unit for their compassion and loving care of our mother,” her family said.
