Patricia Anne McGrath of Philadelphia, PA died on Sunday, February 25, 2024. She was 89. Born March 11, 1934, Patricia was the eldest daughter of Bernard Francis and Margaret Mary (née Barrett) McGrath’s three daughters, with Magaret Conlin (deceased) the youngest. Patricia is survived by her sister Eleanor Potter, who often gave Patricia a hard time, but loved her dearly. She is also survived by her brother-in-law Allen Potter, who regarded Patricia a “best friend”; by her brother-in-law James Conlin; by her three nephews — Maximillian and Michael Potter and James Conlin, Jr. — whom she loved like sons; and by three great-grandnephews and a great-grandniece — True and Jack Potter; Ethan and Regan Potter — who cherished her like a great grandmother.
Patricia was fantastically independent and was fiercely fastidious in planning all things, including her own funeral. Back in 2011, when she made her funeral arrangements and, of course, prepaid, in her notes of questions for the funeral home, one of her questions was: “Where do you stash the cash?” As in, she wrote: “What happens if you go out of business?” Her notes make clear she was determined to write her own obituary. Though she was unable to cross that off her to-do list. She always had a to-do list. Then again, Patricia being Patricia, she probably did write her own obit and in coming days we may find that on her computer, and if so it will be way better than this one, as she also had a great sense of humor. Patricia made clear that when she died, she wanted it to be presented that she “bit the dust.”
The resume version of her biography goes like this: St. Joachim grade school then Little Flower High School. In July 1952, she entered the Sisters of Bon Secours and took her vows in 1960. The Sisters of Bon Secours were founded in 1824, with a mission of “caring for the poor, sick and dying” and would oversee and staff hospitals. As Sister Bernard Anthony, Patricia served as a nurse-educator. She graduated from Bon Secours Hospital School of Nursing in 1956 and later Villanova University with her BSN, and earned her MSN from the University of Maryland. At her request, in 1971, Patricia was “Released from Vows” and left the Sisters of Bon Secours.