Patricia (Patty) Reese Vanderwarker died March 23. She was 77.

She was born in Wilmington, De. on Jan. 18, 1945 to David Meredith Reese Sr. and Ann Gibson Corbit. She attended the Tower Hill School in Wilmington, De. and graduated from Oldfields School in Maryland in 1962. She later received her associates degree in secretarial studies at Bennett Junior College in Millbrook, N.Y.

After college she worked at The New Yorker Magazine as an administrative assistant in the advertising sales department. It was in Manhattan where she met her husband of 54 years, Richard (Skip) Vanderwarker. With their two young boys in tow, the young family moved to New Canaan, Conn. in the mid-1970s. They became active members of the New Canaan Winter Club, St. Marks Church, and the Country Club of New Canaan. In the early 1980s, Patty gave birth to her third child, daughter Meredith.

Patty was an avid sportswoman. At a young age, her father encouraged her to join her two older brothers on the tennis court, the golf course and the water. Reese Cup was the captain of the Oldfields basketball team and became a proficient golfer as a young woman. She was a popular invite by men and women for her remarkably consistent play and scoring but even more so for her easy-going and positive outlook on and off the course. She was always game for anything and still active in her sporting pursuits in even her last hours with family.

The most cherished time of her life were days and nights at her family cottage on Martha’s Vineyard where she summered every year since she was two years old. After her daily morning swim, she strolled the beach in search of sea glass, always eager to come across a rare blue piece as she savored the moment before getting ready for the waking household. Active in the West Chop community, she was a regular at the Sunday service talks and often lingered until lunch hour, catching up with old friends and welcoming the new.

When not on the Vineyard, Patty and Skip were active in their community of Spring Island, S.C. to which they had retired. She enjoyed many rounds of golf, tennis, nature walks, yoga classes, active bridge games and dinners with many friends made over the past 20 years.

She was generous with her time and support, volunteering actively as a benefactor and committee member to numerous organizations, including Meals on Wheels, the Oldfields School, the Historic Odessa Foundation, the West Chop Trust, St. Mark’s Church, the golf committee and the flowers guild on Spring Island, organizing book donations at the local market, and setting up nativity scenes at a friend’s local church.

She will be remembered for the universal grace and ease she had with everyone, her selfless patience and thoughtfulness, and the thousands of small and big acts of service she quietly did for so many. Impossible to forget will be her usual friendly sign-off of “cheers” or her many letters and notes to friends and acquaintances. Corresponding at scale with nearly everyone she knew was a habit and practice she taught her children at a young age and one they strive to carry on.

In addition to her husband Skip, Patty is survived by her children Dean Vanderwarker and his wife Lynette, Derek Vanderwarker, Meredith Martin and her husband Tucker, and grandchildren Reese, Annie, Eben, Beatrice, Georgia and Belle. She is also survived by her brothers David M. Reese Jr. and John C. Reese, and many loving family members.