Patricia Boyle Wilber

Patricia Boyle Wilber, a longtime resident of Hilton Head Island, Sun City, and Bluffton, S.C., died in Thomasville, N.C., on November 12, 2018.  She was born July 16, 1924 in Milford, Mich., to Eleanore Albert Boyle and Edwin Clarence Boyle.  Pat attended public schools in Milford and was valedictorian of her high school class and one of the stars of the girls’ basketball team.  She majored in psychology at Marygrove College while working summers on the B-24 assembly line at Willow Run, a feat that she was rightfully quite proud of.  She married Donald W. Wilber on November 20, 1948, and supported him by working at Sears Roebuck and Detroit Edison in one of the first executive training programs for women, while he finished his degree program at Michigan State University.  When her children were very young, she completed her Master’s degree in education at Eastern Michigan University and taught in elementary schools in Flat Rock, Mich., Atlanta, Ga., and Radnor, Pa.

She was active in community theater, president of her professional sorority, and a union representative for the Pennsylvania State Teachers Association.  A lifelong advocate for good citizenship and social justice, Pat developed an extensive curriculum for teaching civics and patriotism to fifth grade students.  She and her husband built a retirement home in Hilton Head Plantation and became permanent residents in 1986, where they enjoyed many years together and developed many new friendships.  Pat took pride in the fact that she and Don were part of the founding parish at St. Francis by the Sea, having attended “St. Crazy Crab” for some time before the new parish church was completed.  She was a longtime member of the Hilton Head Island League of Women Voters, the Hilton Head chapter of the NAACP, the Democratic Club South of the Broad, the Hilton Head Jazz Society, and the MSU Alumni Club.  Pat was also a tutor and substitute teacher in the Hilton Head Island public schools for many years.

Patricia was predeceased by her husband Don, sister Joan Butler, brother Dennis Boyle, son-in-law Leonard Fromm, and in-laws Del Wilber, Taffy Wilber, Frank Doonan, Gordon Webb, and Yvonne Boyle.  She is survived by children Michele Wilber Garkusha (George) of High Point, N.C., Karen Wilber (Lewis Wessel) of Saugatuck, Mich., (formerly Hilton Head Island), Donna Wilber Fromm of Bloomington, Ind., and Donn and Carla Wilber of Lexington, N.C.  Also surviving are sisters Eleanore “Tommy” Doonan of Houston, Texas, and Millie Webb of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, brother-in-law Don Butler of Mesa, Ariz., grandchildren Emily Wessel Farr (Dave) of Chicago, Ill., Mark Garkusha of Queens, N.Y., Jennifer Wessel (James Grand) of College Park, Md., Larisa Garkusha (fiancé Lee Parker) of New York, N.Y., Valentina Wilber of Washington, D.C., Allison Wessel Cuca (Nick) of Chicago, Ill., Timothy Garkusha of Queens, N.Y., Callan Fromm of Evanston, Ill., Sean Wilber of Steamboat Springs, Colo., Luca Wilber of Boone, N.C., and Erik Fromm of Indianapolis, Ind.  Also, great-grandchildren Calvin Farr, Holland Farr, and Dean Grand, cousins Martin Boyle and Joyce Coe of Milford, Mich., and San Diego, Calif., and dozens of nieces and nephews.

As per her wishes, a funeral mass will take place at 10:30 am Friday, April 26, 2019 at St. Francis by the Sea, with interment beside the “love of her life” at the Beaufort (SC) National Cemetery.  In lieu of flowers, donations in her name may be made to the Southern Poverty Law Center, The League of Women Voters HHI/BA, the HHI NAACP, the Ella C. White Memorial Scholarship Fund, or St. Gregory the Great or St. Francis by the Sea Catholic churches.

Davidson Funeral Home, Hickory Tree Chapel is serving the Wilber family.