Patricia C. Wolfington, former Hainesport mayor, nurse, and real estate agent, has died at 88

Patricia C. Wolfington, 88, formerly of Hainesport, retired mayor of Hainesport Township, nurse, and real estate agent, died Tuesday, Jan. 31, of complications from cerebrovascular disease at Hospice of the Chesapeake in Severna Park, Md.

As a politician, public servant, caregiver, businessperson, and devout Catholic philanthropist, Mrs. Wolfington was interested and successful in all sorts of activities throughout her life. But her specialty was politics and public service.

As a 9-year-old in 1944, she wrote a congratulatory letter to Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower for his success during World War II, and his endearing response to young Patsy Concannon caught the attention of news reporters and photographers. Her story or photo appeared in the New York Times, Stars and Stripes, and other publications across the country.

“Dear Patsy,” Eisenhower wrote, according to a February 1944 story in the Times. “I am delighted to see that you are such a patriotic little American and take such an active interest in this war.” A photo of Mrs. Wolfington holding Eisenhower’s letter appeared in the Stars and Stripes a month later, and her older cousin was pleasantly surprised to see her smiling face in the newspaper while he was on military duty in the Pacific theater.

She became a registered nurse after high school and was active on the Hainesport parent teacher association while her four children attended school. She worked as a real estate agent and broker after her children were older, and became a financial officer for Hainesport Township in the early 1980s.

She was elected to the township’s executive committee from 1985 to 1989, was deputy mayor for a time, and in 1986 and 1987 served as the township’s first Republican female mayor. During her time as mayor, Mrs. Wolfington grappled with such controversial issues as the widening of Route 38 and rezoning of affected properties, cleanup of a hazardous-waste site, refurbishment of the township’s only school, construction of a senior citizens center, and staffing the police department.

Generally outspoken on her positions, she supported the expansion of Route 38 in the 1980s and advocated in 1989 to add educational requirements for township police leaders. In 1988, she told The Inquirer that the township would not let an issue with funding cancel needed repairs to Hainesport Township School. “If the school needs a new roof, they’ll get one. That’s all,” Mrs. Wolfington said.

“She accomplished a lot,” said her daughter Lisa. “She was one of a kind and an inspiration to many. She was loyal and had great integrity. You knew where you stood with her.”

Mrs. Wolfington also served on panels and subcommittees for the township, and she welcomed Nancy Reagan to Medford when the first lady visited a local Girl Scouts camp during an antidrug campaign. “She was elegant, dignified, kind and considerate of others in society and her community,” her family said in a tribute.

Born Mary Patricia Concannon on Aug. 4, 1934, in Trenton, Mrs. Wolfington and her family moved to Philadelphia and then Drexel Hill, and she went to grade school at St. Andrew with Robert Wolfington, her future husband. She was interested in science, graduated from Notre Dame High School, attended Fitzgerald Mercy Hospital School of Nursing, and worked at Fitzgerald Mercy and later as a private nurse.

She married Robert Wolfington in 1959, and they had daughters Mary Pat and Lisa and sons Henry and Robert Jr. and lived in Hainesport. Her husband died in 1998.

Mrs. Wolfington was a member of St. John Neumann Church in Mount Laurel, contributed to local Catholic organizations and projects, and said the rosary every day. She embraced her Irish heritage and posted recipes for shepherd’s pie on Facebook, enjoyed summer vacations at Beach Haven, and knitted blankets for her grandchildren.

She read several books weekly for years and had been recently living close to family in Chester, Md. Her daughter Mary Pat Wolfington Larralde said: “She was gracious, kind, hardworking, had a great deal of integrity, an incredible sense of humor, and always encouraged us to give others the benefit of the doubt because, behind every door there is a cross that we know nothing about.”

In an online tribute, a friend said: “She was a wonderful person. [We] had a great deal of respect for her.”

In addition to her children, Mrs. Wolfington is survived by four grandchildren, one great-granddaughter, and other relatives. A brother and sister died earlier.

A celebration of her life is to be held Wednesday, Feb. 8. Visitation with the family is 9 to 10 a.m. at Donohue Funeral Home, 8401 West Chester Pike, Upper Darby, Pa. 19082. A Mass is to follow at 10:30 at St. Dorothy Church, 4910 Township Line Rd., Drexel Hill, Pa. 19026.

Donations in her name may be made to the Priests of the Sacred Heart, Sacred Heart Monastery, P.O. Box 900, Hales Corners, Wis. 53130.