Patricia Fritzel died at home, with her family, July 11, 2008,

Patricia Olive Leonard was born on March 15, 1936, in Mitcham,

Surrey, England. In1947, she was awarded a scholarship

to Mitcham County School For Girls studying English, literature,

languages, music, and art. She completed an English and French

teaching degree at Goldsmith College in 1958 – including a year off

as a fifi lle au-pair in Boulonge, France.

After teaching for four years in England, she emigrated to Canada and taught high school in

Port Alberni from 1962-1964. There she met her husband, Alfred Fritzel, also teaching in Port

Alberni. Alfred and Patricia were married at on July 25, 1964 in Mitcham, Surrey, England.

They both taught for one year at Red Hill Technical College in Surrey, England. In 1965, they

traveled by Cunard ocean liner and train to Maple Ridge, British Columbia, where they both

worked from 1965 – 1968. They settled in Salmon Arm in 1968, both teaching at Salmon

Arm high school.

Patricia loved to garden, had a great appreciation of nature, and a great love of music. She

sang in many choirs throughout her life, including the Shuswap Singers, the United Church

Choir and the Aura Chamber Choir of Vernon. She loved her adopted country, her church

community, and working for social and environmental justice. She was a member of the

Council of Canadians, the Kairos group at the United Church, Shuswap Environmental Action

Society, and the Canadian Cancer Society.

She is survived by her husband Alfred, her children Anne in Olympia (husband Tom and

children Adam and Samuel), Gene in Dawson Creek (wife Kim and children Andrew and

Nicholas), and Graham in Red Deer, Alberta, and her sister Kathleen in Great Britain.

A funeral service will be held at 10:00 a.m. at the United Church of

Salmon Arm on Saturday, July 19, 2008. Patricia’s remains will be

interred in the family plot in Pleasant Valley Cemetery.

In lieu of flfl owers, contributions may be made to the

Canadian Cancer Society, Box 3451, Salmon Arm,

BC, V1E 4S2.

Arrangements entrusted to FISCHER’S FUNERAL

SERVICES & CREMATORIUM LTD., Salmon

Arm, 9250) 833-1129, condolences may be

e-mailed to fifi schers@sunwave.net.

English literature

Patricia Olive Fritzel