Patricia T. (Thomas) Sites

Patricia T. Sites died peacefully at home on December 11, 2020.

Patricia (Pat) Thomas Sites, daughter of Wilber and Ruth (Vickers) Thomas, was born in 1932 in Hagerstown, MD. She was a graduate of the Woman’s College, University of North Carolina, a wife, a mother, and a lifelong journalist. Moving with her family to Philadelphia, Baltimore, Albany, Dallas, Cleveland, Akron and Brussels, Belgium, she filled several editorial positions along the way. Trained on the staffs of both Hagerstown newspapers, she began her career as a features editor with Scholastic Magazines in New York. She went on later to the national staff of the United Methodist Reporter, and later still to the news office of Southern Methodist University, where she founded and edited a prize-winning publication and retired as staff director.

Returning to Akron after retirement, she volunteered as a docent at the Akron Art Museum, held office on the Louise Sumner Board at Sumner on Ridgewood, and sang with the Cuyahoga Falls Community Chorus. At First Congregational Church of Akron, she served on various committees and sang in the choir. She was also a member of the League of Women Voters, and a volunteer and canvasser for Barack Obama’s historic 2008 presidential campaign.

A lifelong student, she was an insatiable reader and a devotee of the arts and of language. One of her proudest achievements was learning French when she was well past middle age. She loved her book groups, both in Berea, Ohio, some years ago and more recently with docent friends of the Akron Art Museum.

She shared the pleasures of the theater, music and travel – and much more – with her dear husband of 63 years, Jacob A. Sites (Jack). Their long and happy marriage was the constant of her life. After settling in Concordia at Sumner in 2013, Pat and Jack became active residents and valued members of the community, where he died in 2017. The loves that gave special joy to her elder years were those she found with her two treasured granddaughters.

She is survived by her two sons and daughters-in-law, William (Suzanne Kaufman) Sites, Chicago, IL, and James (Shannon) Sites, Aiken, SC, and granddaughters Isabelle and Eleanor Kaufman-Sites.

Pat will be sorely missed and loved always. Memorial service to be held at a future date. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the First Congregational Church of Akron. To share a Memory, Send a Condolence, or Light a Candle, visit the Tribute Wall at www.billowfuneralhomes.com