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Patricia L. Lent ’61

April 17, 2021, in Portland.

Portland’s Lents district is named for Patricia’s ancestors, who came to Oregon over the Oregon Trail in 1852. Her mother, Ruth Gordon, came from orthodox Ashkenazi Jews, and while living in Seattle, Pat converted to Judaism in 1974. She graduated with honors from Jefferson High School and attended Reed for one year before finishing her bachelor’s degree in math and computer science at Portland State University.

She worked as a manager and forecaster for Pacific NW Bell but had the soul of an artist. An avid supporter of the arts, she loved plays and ushered for the Portland Center for the Performing Arts for more than 30 years. Pat had a beautiful soprano voice; as a child she performed on radio. In later years, she sang with the Unitarian Choir, in a Portland production of The King and I, and with Senior Center Choirs. She played piano, did creative dancing, loved to dance, studied Spanish and German, knew some Yiddish, and could read Hebrew. She practiced tai chi, did Volkswalking, and loved to travel. One of her favorite destinations was the Sylvia Beach Hotel in Newport, Oregon. A social person who was involved in her community, Pat volunteered for the Department of Veterans Affairs, the American Legion Auxiliary, and Meals on Wheels. She was on the Milwaukie planning commission as a Democratic precinct committee person and on the board of the Milwaukie Ledding Library. She is survived by her sister, Gerri Lent; brother, Zachary Lent; and daughter, Veronica Ayn Stahl.

Appeared in Reed magazine: March 2022