Virginia Kellett Patterson

Virginia Kellett Patterson passed away January 26, 2018 at Atria Weston Place assisted living community in Knoxville, TN, two days after friends and family helped her celebrate her 95th birthday. Mrs. Patterson was born in Greenville, South Carolina, and raised in Waynesville, NC. She was the daughter of the late John Russell Kellett and Johnnie Mae Lynch Kellett. She earned a B.A. degree from Lenoir Rhyne College, where she met her husband George Richard "Pat" Patterson, Jr. They married in 1941, and after WWII moved to Oak Ridge, TN, where they both worked as physicists until son George was born. After moving to Knoxville and raising their four children to school age, Virginia went back to work. She was employed for 37 years in the Academic Computing Center at the University of Tennessee as a Senior Mathematical and Statistical Analyst, finally retiring at the age of 73. She was a computer pioneer, beginning her career as an operator of the first computer acquired by the U.T. College of Engineering. Gordon Sherman recruited her for the Computing Center when it was first formed a year or two later. She learned programming on the first computer acquired at the Center and had worked with almost every computer used at U.T. by the time of her retirement. She used her skills in computing and statistics to meet a wide variety of challenges, from football scouting to optimization of dairy cow diets. She developed the first computerized student class scheduling program for the university. She earned a Masters degree in mathematics from the university while working full time. She was awarded a Women of Distinction award in 1983, and was named the leading data processing individual for the State of Tennessee in 1990. She was a member of the International Statistical Association and the Association for Computing Machinery, and was a former president of the ACM Southeastern Chapter. She was also a former president of the U.T. Faculty Women's Club Mrs. Patterson supported the artistic and musical community, housing artists for the Knoxville Opera for many years. She was a member of the Metropolitan Opera Guild, the Metropolitan Museum Guild, the Knoxville Opera Guild, the Knoxville Symphony Guild, the Knoxville Museum of Art, Knoxville Heritage, Knoxville Zoo, South Street Seaport Guild, and Cousteau Society. She was on the board of the Thomas Wolfe Society. Mrs. Patterson was an enthusiastic traveler and had a number of friends in Europe. She was an amateur photographer and gave numerous slide shows about her travels. She was predeceased by her husband G.R. Patterson, Jr. She is survived by her children: George Richard Patterson, III, and wife Elisabeth Romanov Patterson, Middletown, NJ; John Kellett Patterson and wife Yvonne Garrett Patterson, Newark, NJ, Julie Patterson Shore and wife Lori White, Raleigh, NC, and David Russell Patterson, Nashville, TN; grandchildren: Peter Laurance (Meli), Royal Oak, MI and Russell Alexander Shore, Raleigh, NC; and great grandchildren Brendan Alexander Shore, Dexter Peter Laurance and Charles George Laurance. She is also survived by sister-in-law Lee Patterson of Atlanta, GA. She is also survived by long-time friends Nancy Gnilka of Knoxville and Diego Pinto of Rome, Italy, as well as many wonderful friends and neighbors. Her long-time helpers, Jeannine Barnes, the David Whiteheads and Larry Chambers enabled her to stay in her home well past the age of 90. Her family is immensely grateful for the daily companionship and support from her friend Nancy, for the loving care she received from the staff at Atria Weston Place, and for the hospice assistance of Caris Healthcare in her final transition. Mrs. Patterson and her family were charter members of the Episcopal Church of the Ascension in Knoxville. In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to the Knoxville Opera or to the music programs at either Church of the Ascension or St. John's Episcopal Cathedral in Knoxville. Memorial service will be held at 1pm, Saturday, February 24th, at the Episcopal Church of the Ascension, 800 S. Northshore Drive. Online condolences at www.rosemortuary.com

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Virginia Kellett Patterson

January 26, 2018