Patricia O. Read (née Patricia Anne O'Neill), age 94, of Shelburne, Vermont, died peacefully on December 17, 2025. Pat was born March 5, 1931 in Niagara Falls, New York, to Francis and Mary (Whalen) O'Neill. As a child, she wanted to grow up to be a schoolteacher, but her parents had other ideas, and she was placed on the business track in high school, where she learned secretarial skills including shorthand and typing. After graduating from high school in 1948, she worked for seven years as an administrative assistant for the general manager of the Nabisco Shredded Wheat plant in Niagara Falls. It was there that she met the manager's son, John Charles ("Charlie") Read. Pat and Charlie were married in 1955, and together they spent a year in Toledo, Ohio followed by a year in Houston, Texas, before returning with their growing family to Western New York.

Pat enjoyed drawing and painting, and often took her kids to art museums when they were growing up. She had tremendous empathy for others, and while busy raising her own five children, she took in several foster babies awaiting adoption. After her kids were grown, Pat worked for a time as a receptionist at a doctor's office, and took courses at the local community college. In 2001, she relocated with her husband to Williston, Vermont, and before her health declined in later years, she kept busy with activities at the Essex Junction Senior Center and volunteering at the local public library. Throughout her long life she loved to keep in touch with family and friends with letters, and later, through email.

Pat is survived by her children Mary Catherine, Robert, Philip, Helen, and Jim; and by four grandchildren, three great-grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her husband Charlie, in 2025; and by her brother Edward and her sister Mildred. The family would like to thank Bayada Hospice and the caregivers of The Arbors at Shelburne for taking such good care of Pat in her final days. While Pat was only at The Arbors for a short time, she loved it there.