Patricia C. Westwater (nee Solms), 90, of South Nyack passed away peacefully on March 20, 2018. She was predeceased by her loving husband Charles G. Westwater, by her parents Catherine and Raymond Solms and her sister Mary.
Born in New York City, Patricia attended catholic grammar school and Cathedral High School in New York City. She entered the convent and became known as “Sister Catherine Raymond,” a Catholic Dominican Sister of the Sparkill Community teaching in elementary schools in New York. Patricia earned her Bachelor’s Degree from Fordham University and a Masters in Library Science from St. John’s University.
Assigned to the Punjab of Pakistan, she taught children in the “bastis” (slums) of Bahawalpur City and numerous villages of that new nation during the turbulent years of the 1950’s and 1960’s. Following dispensation from religious life in 1971, she later married and was known as Mrs. Patricia Westwater. Patricia worked in the Clarkstown School District for more than twenty years as a librarian, teacher and chairperson for the district’s school libraries.
Upon retirement, she volunteered to serve AIDS afflicted children in the Bronx, and later as a teacher to Haitian children at St. Ann’s Catholic school, her local parish. In short, for some 60 years, she taught the rudiments of reading and writing to a diversity of children at unique locations under varied conditions, a privilege afforded few professionals. A good teacher opens our minds and hearts. A great teacher, in whatever the circumstances, also shares a gentle understanding and a tender compassion with her charges.
Patricia was a beloved friend and an inspiration to the many she served and with whom she worked throughout her life. She will be lovingly remembered by those whose lives were graced by her presence.
Visiting will be Sunday from 4PM to 8PM at St. Ann’s Catholic Church, 16 Jefferson Street, Nyack, NY. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Monday at 11AM at St. Ann’s Catholic Church in Nyack. Internment will follow at Green Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, NY.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in Patricia Westwater’s name to the Domincan Sisters of Sparkill, Dominican Convent, 175 NY 340, Sparkill, NY 10976.