Patricia Margaret Babb nee Werner

 

 

Born: September 2, 1922 in Nebraska City, NE

Passed: May 31, 2015 in Greenwood, SC

 

BIOGRAPHY

Born in Nebraska City, Nebraska, she was a daughter of the late Max Harrison and Mary Florence Werner. She graduated from Nebraska City High School Class of 1939. In 1939 she joined Transcontinental and Western Airlines (which became Trans World Airlines or TWA in 1946) as a ticket and customer service agent and helped to open the new Albuquerque, New Mexico, municipal airport, a central hub for transcontinental air travel from the west coast to the east. The job also entailed ground control of landing aircraft where she had to walk out onto the tarmac with a flashlight and direct aircraft to their proper parking positions.  But it wasn’t always so glamorous.  On one occasion, an accomplished actress and current love interest of the owner, Howard Hughes, missed a flight.  Fortunately she was able to comfortably situate the young lady overnight and personally assure one and all that everything possible was being done to expedite her travel plans.

 

In 1945, she moved to Washington, DC, and joined the Adjutant General's Office as a clerk stenographer in support of the war effort.

 

She met First Lieutenant Joel Marvin Babb, Gray Court, South Carolina, newly returned from the Persian Gulf Command and European Theater. They married on April 19, 1946, in Alexandria, VA. During the next 68 years of marriage, Pat managed a growing family and moves to Gray Court, SC, Waycross, GA, Spokane, WA, Greenville, SC, Denver, CO, Columbus, NE, Tipton, IN, Worthington, OH, Lincoln, NE, Jackson, MS, Columbia, SC, Alexandria, VA, Pasadena, CA, University City and Ballwin, MO, and finally Greenwood, SC.

 

In 1976, Mrs. Babb earned a BA degree in Journalism from the University of South Carolina and then worked for South Carolina Public Television. Later, in Washington, DC, she joined the National Science Foundation as Assistant Program Manager, Developing Countries Section, and subsequently worked as a freelance journalist writing articles on science subjects. She later joined the Episcopal Church of St. Michael and St. George in St. Louis, MO, as Director of Outreach Ministries from which she retired in 1997.  She was a member of St. Andrews Anglican Church in Greenwood, SC.

Mrs. Babb was the last surviving member of her immediate family. She was preceded in death by a brother, Rex Werner and a sister, Mary Elizabeth Mruzik.  Survivors include four children, Joel M. Babb, Jr. and wife Frances of Buckfield, ME, Margaret Anne "Missy" Lowery and husband John of Greenwood, Mary Elizabeth Macdonald and husband Hugh of Norwich, England and Patricia Martha Babb of Sugarloaf, NY; one grandson, Jack Macdonald and wife Ruth of London, England.

A memorial service was held at the home of her daughter, Margaret Anne "Missy" Lowery and husband John as originally published in the Index-Journal of Greenwood, South Carolina.

 

 

Mary Florence Werner nee Paxton and her daughters Mary Elizabeth Mruzik nee Werner

and Patricia Margaret Babb nee Werner in Nebraska City, Nebraska circa 1940

 

Patricia Margaret Babb nee Werner and son Joel M. Babb

 

Patricia Margaret Babb nee Werner and husband Joel Marvin Babb

 

 

Mary Elizabeth Mruzik nee Werner (left) and Patricia Margaret Babb

nee Werner (right) in Nebraska City, Nebraska about 1930.