Patricia "Patty Kay" Devlin (born Seeley)
Personal
Gender: Female
Date of Birth: 1936
Date of Death: May 3, 2020
Death Place: Port Angeles, WA
Patricia “Patty Kay” Devlin
1936 – 2020
Patricia “Patty Kay” Devlin would have preferred to choose the way her life ended by walking out into the freezing Strait of Juan de Fuca or getting shot into outer space. She shared these plans with anyone brave enough to face the idea of their own mortality, and sometimes she’d share it with you even if you thought it was morbid. It was not to be, though. Instead, after suffering injuries from a fall, on Sunday, May 3rd at the age of 83, Patty Kay decided she’d had enough and left this world at her beloved home, Devlin’s Island, with her family by her side.
Her plans for the end of her life were just as audacious as her life itself. When she wasn’t pushing your comfort levels by having those deep conversations that really make you think, then she was planning her next big adventure; a multi-mile hike in the mountains, picking out ceramics in Tokyo, cruising with friends in Baja. Her lust for life was insatiable and infecting. You’d leave a conversation with her feeling invigorated for whatever task lay ahead, because she would imbue you with axiomatic truths and TED Talk-level wisdom that can only be gathered by someone who has BEEN there
She was a lifelong firebrand and woman’s rights activist who leaves a great legacy. In the early 1980s Patty used the term “homophobia” long before anyone recognized that definition. As a research psychologist, her early studies focused on father-son relationships. She interviewed hundreds of male prison inmates establishing a clear link between learned behavior in childhood and mimicking that behavior into adulthood. Namely proving that boys will end up treating women the same way their fathers treated their mothers.
She reveled in providing tools for young girls from difficult backgrounds who may not have had the role models to tell them they could BE something, anything they wanted. As a mentor and advocate for young women, she conducted many Girls’ Conferences. Endorsed by California Senator Robert Presley, Patty implemented a program called “Reach for the Stars,” jointly held by Ruth Mary Harriss, Dr. Pamela Clute, and best friend, Kathy Silverstein. The program was later modeled by Sally Ride in her science and technology program. Patty would refer to this as “imitation is the best form of flattery.” She was classy like that.
She loved using the good silverware and china, because otherwise why bother having it? She loved the color purple and wore it well. She loved enormous squashy armchairs for reading and napping, and being next to a crackling fire, a shared family trait. Her lifelong commitment to sourdough bread, even with a gluten intolerance, was staggering – and she had a 100-year-old sourdough starter in her kitchen before it was hipster cool. She knew the names of all the fancy flowers, and even better, how to grow them. She once designed her kitchen with an oven door that opened into the hallway, because she never wanted to turn her back on her view of the Strait when cooking at the Beach House. She called her daughters “daugh’er” like Dick Van Dyke playing a chimney sweep. She always wanted the best for everyone, and the best out of everyone. She loved to hug trees, but she was better at hugging you.
She is preceded in death by her mother, Lucille “Mickey” Batteen, father, Levi Seeley, brother, Charles “Chuck” Seeley, and pets Lady-Lady and Jenna. She fiercely loved her husband of 50 years, Michael Devlin, who survives her. She is also survived by her three daughters (Michele, Christina, and Mira Lisa), two stepsons and their spouses (Steven, Mark and Sarah), niece (Cheryl) and nephew (Brian), 8 grandchildren, 1 great-grandchild, best friend and heart family (Kathy, Devon, Mary), and all the wanderers, dreamers, survivors, and weary travelers she took in along the way, which are too numerous to mention, but all cherished.
There will be no services, but donations should be made in her name to any charity that helps animals, women, the sciences, or the less fortunate. She’d get a kick out of that.
Published in Peninsula Daily News on May 17, 2020
