Patricia C. Waring of Chestertown, MD, died peacefully on August 21, 2024, in the care of Compass Hospice in Centreville, MD.

Patricia was preceded in death by her parents, Sadie Belle Lewis Waring and Dr. Elmar Stebbins Waring, and by her daughter, Belle Stebbins Waring, one brother and three sisters. She is survived by two brothers, George W. Waring (New London, NH) and Clark W. Waring (Saluda, VA).

Patricia was born in Fairfax, Virginia, on June 20, 1931. She was raised in Fairfax, where her father was a doctor. She was married a short time after she completed high school, and her husband's work as a diplomat took her to Jordan and the Middle East. After her husband's tragic automobile accident, Patricia raised her daughter as a single mother in the Washington D.C. area. During this time in the 1950s and 60s, she worked as a secretary and office administrator for the federal government and for Comsat Corporation, for which she was the first employee. During the 1970s, Patricia was married to Robert Schwartz, and they lived in Charlottesville, VA, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. During the 1980s, after her marriage to Mr. Schwartz, she lived for a time in St. John, USVI, where she managed an office for Virgin Islands Seaplane Shuttle. She returned to the Washington D.C. area, where she volunteered at Georgetown University Hospital and became a member of the board of the new Signature Theatre. She married Carleton B. Swift in 1990. Among other adventures, they established a second home in Chestertown, Maryland, where Ms. Waring continued to live after their divorce until her recent passing.

Patricia was always a lively conversationalist, whether as a guest or host. She loved supper parties and had many distinct circles of friends. In addition to raising her daughter and caring for her nephews and nieces, she was a stand-in parent for the children of several families, with whom she maintained life- long friendship. She kept in touch by mail and telephone with many people, and in particular liked to cut-out, fold, and send by mail newspaper articles with a few handwritten comments. She was a fan of baseball and cats, listened to piano jazz and musicals, and read extensively novels, politics, and history.  Always quick with a story or a comment, wherever she was in the world, she was, as she would put it, "a hoot."

A memorial dinner will be held at the Kitchen at Imperial, Chestertown, MD, on Sunday, October 13th from 4 to 6 pm; RSVP to Jacob.russin@fastmail.com. A guestbook page is available with Galena Funeral Home, www.galenafuneralhomeofsls. Those wishing to honor her life with a gift may join Patricia in supporting the Kent Cultural Alliance, www.kentculture.org, in Chestertown, MD.