Patricia Ann Gold

Patricia Ann Gold entered this world on December 7, 1938, through the portal of Sylacauga, Alabama.  She spent her developmental years in nearby Talladega.  Her name was Pat, but grocery cashiers, waitpeople, bank tellers, letter carriers and family friends knew her as “Aunt Pat”.

Aunt Pat was one of the kindest of all of God’s creations.  She was a selfless soul and gave unselfishly her time and resources to family, friends and strangers.  If she had one dollar, she’d give ninety-nine cents to anybody who asked for it. She was like that.

She lost her mother at a very young age and took care of her younger siblings as though they were her children.  She cared for her oldest sibling in her senior years.  She tended various nieces and nephews as if they were her own.  Fair to say that a more selfless human being that has never lived. She was Mother Teresa on a smaller scale.

She missed the opportunity for a college education but she put herself through business school where she learned the accounting skills that would become her bread and butter.  During her early professional years she worked at Sears Roebuck in downtown Birmingham while living at the YWCA many blocks away.  She walked this distance to and from work daily.  Her evening walks home took her through a part of town then populated by “ladies of the evening” and street criminals.  She did this until merit raises allowed her to afford an apartment on Southside and her first automobile.  She was a bootstraps person if there ever was one!

Her department moved its operation initially to Atlanta, GA and then to Chicago, IL.  The latter move was too far from family and loved ones for aunt Pat.  She semi-retired from this position and found new employment in the aircraft industry near Perry, Ga close to family.

When her oldest sister needed assistance in her golden years, Aunt Pat moved back to Birmingham to care for her.  After her sister died, Pat retired one more time to St. Simons Island, GA where she took up beachcombing and birdwatching.

Patricia was preceded in death by her mother, Grace Ruth Fuller; her father, Robert McKinley Gold; bother, Edward Gold; sister, Virginia Gold Pittman and brother, Robert Gold.

While she never married or had a family of her own, aunt Pat is survived by her sister, Shirley Maxwell (James), nephew, Jim Maxwell (Colleen), niece, Lee Ann Melton (Marcus); nephew Charles “Rusty” Blythe (Donna Bassett); grand-nephew Michael Sean Ott (Candise); grand nieces Brandy Nasworthy (Tim), Keri Eckhardt, and Megan Calloway (Sam) and many great, grand nieces and nephews.

A memorial service will be held at the First Christian Church in Perry, GA on Saturday, August 9 at 2:00 pm.