Patricia McColgan

Patricia McColgan, who taught elementary school children in Baltimore and Howard counties for three decades and was a lover of books, travel and the beach, died May 7 after a brief illness. She died less than two months after celebrating her 92nd birthday. The Princeton, New Jersey, native was a mother of three and beloved grandmother, great grandmother and aunt. She graduated from Towson State Teachers College (now Towson University) with a degree in early childhood education. The former Patricia Mary Jackson met her future husband John A. McColgan while they were both students at Towson. They married in 1956, beginning a lifetime of adventure that took the former Westinghouse marketing executive and his wife of 64 years to extended stays in Ireland, Micronesia and Iran. At home, the couple raised their three children in Catonsville and then Howard County. She worked as a teacher at Halethorpe Elementary School and later several other locations in Howard County. Mrs. McColgan loved lounging on her porch, playing bridge or entertaining a huge extended family for Thanksgiving or at her backyard pool on Centennial Lane. She also cherished her Irish heritage, was an excellent baker and devoted to praying the rosary. Noted for her quick Irish wit, she often said she had an idyllic youth growing up in Princeton, regaling friends and relatives with stories about her time there. She loved dining out and fine clothes, but didn’t have a pretentious bone in her body, according to her youngest daughter, Amy Page. Her daughter also said she was notorious for collecting strays of any kind – cats or people – with anyone and everyone welcome at her house. She was predeceased by her husband, John, and daughter Mary Frances Howard. She is survived by son Timothy McColgan (Michele) of Apopka, Fla.; daughter Amy Page (Thomas), son-in-law R. Michael Howard of Ellicott City, Md.; granddaughter Fallon Laque (Harold) of Severna Park, Md.; grandson Timothy Spence McColgan of Palm Beach, Fla.; granddaughter Megan Blanco (Yunior) of Chestertown, Md.; grandson Robert Howard of Ellicott City, Md.; grandson Colin Howard of Baltimore; great grandchildren Anna Page Blanco, Harold William Laque IV and Juliana Marie Blanco; as well as numerous cousins, nieces and nephews, who she loved immensely. A visitation will be held on Tuesday, May 14, 2024 from 11 am - 12:30 pm at Fellows, Helfenbein & Newnam Funeral Home in Chester, MD, with a Funeral Service to follow at 1 pm at St. Christopher's Catholic Church 1861 Harbor Dr. Chester, MD 21619.

Patricia McColgan

March 21, 1932 - May 7, 2024