Patricia White Lovell, 99, Was Edgartown Sailor

Patricia White Lovell, wife of the late Lane Lovell, died Jan. 10 at the Martha's Vineyard Hospital at the age of 99, thus ending her rewarding and lifelong association with the Vineyard.

As children, she and her husband spent many summers here at their parents' Edgartown homes. Over the years, they both cherished the natural pleasures of the Island. Patty, in particular, enjoyed the water both as an award-winning sailor in her earlier days and an intrepid swimmer well into her 90s. She was often the only family member with sufficient courage to brave the Memorial Day waters.

She and her husband married in 1935, and continued to visit the Island with their two children. In 1972, they moved permanently from Essex Fells, N.J. to the Lovells' Vineyard home.

Their son, Benjamin, visited them in the late 1980s and remained to help them as they moved on in years. His death in 2002 was a great loss for his family and his many Island friends.

Soon after their move to Edgartown, the Lovells became active volunteers for many of the Island's organizations. They delivered food, often to people younger than themselves, for Meals on Wheels, and Patty also volunteered at the hospital and at the Second Hand Store, which she affectionately called her "special shop." Because of her love for animals and nature, she also supported Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary in many of its programs and activities.

Mrs. Lovell was born on July 24, 1907 in Kenilworth, Ill., the daughter of Burton F. White and Lilian M. Berg. The family moved to Stoneleigh Farms in Carmel, N.Y. where she and her brother, Burton, grew up. The Whites continued to visit their Edgartown home during the summers.

Patty graduated from The Spence School in New York city, and returned to the family's farm to care for her ailing mother.

During her later years on the Vineyard, Patty was accompanied in her home by a wonderful team of caregivers headed by Jessica Perry. Their devotion and creative care added pleasure to her life, and greatly enhanced her final years with comfort and friendship.

Mrs. Lovell was a compassionate woman who enjoyed life's simple pleasures. She was a devoted wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, and her family will miss her sparkling humor and her genuine concern for those around her.

On Oct. 20, 1967, the following letter written by her was published in the Vineyard Gazette:

I wish to express my sincere appreciation and thanks to the MSPCA and the Edgartown police for their prompt response to my call for help on Oct. 9, and for the extreme courtesy and understanding when it turned into a fool's errand for them.

I had tried for over an hour to solve my own problem, which was my pointer chasing birds on the Edgartown South Beach. She was in another world, beyond the reach of hand or voice, traveling farther and farther towards the direction of Gay Head. It was late in the day, quite misty. I was leaving the Island the next morning which fact I'm sure added to my anxiety. I finally decided the only solution to my problem was to find a jeep, in order to reach her. And so my call for help. But just as help, (in the form of the MSPCA and the police) arrived so did my recalcitrant dog! Such timing.

I'm sure my benefactors could gladly have pushed us both in the ocean! But they couldn't have been nicer, taking it all in their stride and in good humor.

Many, many thanks again.

Survivors include her daughter, Linda Lovell Smith, and her husband, Larry, of Doylestown, Pa.; a grandson, Scott Lovell Smith of New York city; and a granddaughter, Sabrina S. Basile and her husband, David, and their two boys, Mika and Max of Redondo Beach, Calif.

The Rev. Jerry Fritz, assisted by the Rev. John Schule, will lead a memorial service in celebration of and in thanksgiving for Patty Lovell's life at the Federated Church in Edgartown at 11 a.m. Saturday, June 30. Her husband, Lane Lovell, who died in 1998, and who requested no ceremony at that time in consideration for Patty, also will be honored.

During her lifetime, Mrs. Lovell supported many causes, but two of her favorites on the Vineyard were the Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary, P.O. Box 494, Vineyard Haven, MA 02568, and the MSPCA, P.O. Box 2097, Edgartown, MA 02539, from which she adopted many of her favorite pets. Donations to these organizations, or any charities of choice in her name, would be greatly appreciated by her family.