Patricia O. Toner, 86, a resident of Clearwater, Florida in the winter and Murphy in the summer died Friday, August 11, 2017 in Murphy.

Patricia (Tish) was born in Cortland, New York on May 28, 1931 to the late Charles Joseph and Marian DuBois O’Connor. She attended River Edge Elementary School and Roosevelt Junior High School in New Jersey. Tish graduated from Monroe, New York High School in 1948 and from Syracuse University in 1952 with a degree in Theater Arts.

In 1945, during World War II, she picked and sold vegetables at Chohwindsky Market and later, while attending Syracuse University, she worked in the summer for her father at the Natural History Museum in New York City. She married William Taylor in 1952 and found after the birth of three daughters, being a mother and wife was more important to her than a life on the stage.

Three events that were most eventful in her professional life was the reading of her favorite poet, Dylan Thomas’s “A Child’s Christmas in Wales” for the television program “New Jersey Speaks”, receiving the Best Direction Award at the Eastern States Theater Festival in Washington, D.C. for her direction of the Japanese Kabuki play “The Zen Substitute”, and participating with the Ohio University summer theater program in Chatham, Massachusetts.

As was typical for many women of the 1950s and 60s, she helped support her family. She worked as a travel agent in Harwichport, Massachusetts and a buyer of clothes for a boutique in Harwich, and as a side occupation, she also participated in the antique business named Whaler Antiques.

Patricia married Richard Toner in 1978. She and Richard lived in South Chatham on Cape Cod in Massachusetts for over 20 years, during which time they went boating and clam digging with their children and grandchildren. They went boating in and around Nantucket Sound, Monomoy Island, and the Elizabeth Islands. Patricia’s job as a travel agent allowed her and Richard to travel extensively throughout the world. Their favorite vacations were in England where they attended the theater in London for three or four days and then journeyed to different regions. They continued their vacations following their move to Murphy in the summer, and to Florida in the winter. Following her retirement, Patricia volunteered at a wildlife sanctuary and as the “story lady” at the North Palm Beach Library in Florida. She was a member of the Murphy Presbyterian Church and had volunteered with the Valley River Humane Society.

In addition to her husband, Patricia leaves behind two daughters, Avril Taylor and Airen Reed; three grandchildren, Allison Staton, Ashley Gorham, and Joshua Reed; and five great grandchildren, Alexis and Jayden Staton, and Dylan, Lucas, and Jack Gorham, all of Pinellas County, Florida. Also she leaves two step-daughters, Elizabeth Heinen and Margaret Toner; a step-granddaughter, Mary Vandeyacht and husband, Jon; and a step-great granddaughter, Paige Vandeyacht, all of Wisconsin.

The Richard Toner family will always be thankful for friend and caregiver, Connie Evans, who made her days as comfortable as possible.

A memorial service was held at 11:00 AM Saturday, September 23, 2017 in the Murphy Presbyterian Church, 252 Valley River Ave., Murphy, North Carolina with the Rev. Alan Wildsmith officiating.

The family received friends from 10-10:50 Saturday morning, September 23 in the Murphy Presbyterian Church prior to the services.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials be made in memory of Patricia O. Toner to the Valley River Humane Society, PO Box 658, Murphy, NC 28906.

Ivie Funeral Home, Murphy in charge of all arrangements.