Frances L. Pattison

Frances Louise “Bricky” Pattison passed away on December 26th, 2007 and is now dancing with the angels in heaven. Bricky or Brick-Top as she was called because of her bright red hair, was born in Los Angeles California on July 30, 1923 to Thomas and Barbara Coleman (Belohlavek). She moved to the Panama Canal Zone in 1933 with her parents and older sister, Lillian Jean Coleman. She attended Canal Zone schools and graduated from Balboa High school with the class of 1941. After graduation and a brief marriage, Bricky worked for the Navy and subsequently the Panama Canal Company as an accountant and while working as a United Way volunteer in the late 1950’s, she met the man who would become her second husband, James E. Pattison, with whom she would remain devotedly married to until his death in 1980. He was in Panama to setup the first television station for the Caribbean Forces Network. They moved to Waynesburg, PA in 1964, where they bought local radio station, WANB where she also managed accounts and assisted as a broadcaster. Upon returning to the Panama Canal Zone in 1971, she resumed working for the Panama Canal Company, where she was picked to manage the newly created Ship Databank which handled all the information on ships transiting the Panama Canal. She was promoted to a systems analyst for the accounting division where she worked until her retirement from civil service in 1986. She eventually moved to Round Rock, TX in 1990 where she enjoyed a retirement full of family and friends who will always remember the many parties and get-togethers she hosted at her home. She loved to dance and could not sit still if any kind of music was playing. Her door was always open and her pantry fully stocked for any occasion. She was preceded in death by her youngest son Michael E. Pattison, and husband James E. Pattison as well as her parents and her sister. She is survived by sons, Thomas C. Pattison and his wife Linda of Pembroke Pines, FL; James C. Pattison and his wife Kathleen as well as their two children (grandchildren) Thomas and Megan of Round Rock, TX; Nieces and Nephews Dale Dombrosky and Barbara Sanders (Dombrosky) as well as Diane Cope (Pattison) and James A. Pattison. The family would like to acknowledge Vista Care for their assistance and for the staff and family at the Cottages at Chandler Creek for their loving care during over the last five years. A service will be held at 2:00 p.m., Wednesday, January 2, 2008, in the Chapel at Washington Cemetery, 498 Park Avenue, Washington.