Patricia Coughlan Vaughan

Patricia (Pat) Vaughan passed away August 2, 2019 after a difficult illness. She was surrounded by her family.

Pat was born in Canada in 1937 and emigrated to the United States in 1959.  She had accepted employment from the United States Defense Department and was posted to Goose Bay, Labrador where she met and married David, a marriage which lasted sixty years.  Pat had a son who died of cystic fibrosis at the age of fifteen. His illness started Pat into charitable work, an effort which spanned twenty years.  She worked on behalf of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, a charity she supported until her death. 

Pat was a graduate of Northwest Florida State College (then Okaloosa-Walton Community College). Her attachment to the College was deep.  Pat was a recognized basketball player in her high school days, and she adopted the OWCC women’s team.  Pat prepared and served, in her home, pasta meals prior to home games.  She traveled with the team to post-season competitions, tutoring players in mathematics.

Pat was a military wife.  She endured the long separations, becoming completely competent in her dual parent role.  Pat sought out two Vietnamese refugee children for care near the close of the Vietnam War, entering their lives and providing family and financial support through their graduation from college.  Pat was also famous for her cross-stitch Christmas ornaments, sending the treasures to her many relatives and friends, sometimes completing as many as forty a year.

And, through all her many activities and passions, Pat remained a loving and devoted spouse.  She is survived by her husband, David, her chosen Vietnamese children KimChi and Diep, her niece, Donna, brother, Conrad and sister, Camilla.  Pat would want me to express her love and admiration for the caring doctors and nurses at Twin Cities Hospital where she spent so much of her final year.  She will be missed. Services will be private.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Patricia Coughlan Vaughan, please visit our floral store.