Patricia Heflin Hammett

Patricia Heflin Hammett was born on December 23, 1938 and left us on March 1, 2024 to be with her beloved husband, Ray, her parents, Flossie and Curmit, her brother, Jimmy, and many others I’m sure she was excited to reunite with. She passed at Calvert Memorial Hospital at the age of 85 from complications due to congestive heart failure. Pat graduated from St. Patrick’s Academy, a Catholic high school in Washington, D.C., in 1955 and went to work for the CIA shortly thereafter as a secretary who was also skilled in shorthand. She worked there her entire career and retired on disability after she was injured in a car accident. Pat loved plants and flowers, and her office was decorated with several varieties of plants that she meticulously cared for. To her delight, she went in one morning to find that her spider plant had sent out a shoot and at the end of that shoot was a little baby spider plant. She got so excited that she purchased and sent out birth announcements to all of her friends! She had a great sense of humor and was always fun to be around. Pat and Ray were married in Washington, D.C. in 1958 and remained so until his death. They had been residing in the Wildewood Community in California, MD for years. Pat and Ray loved to entertain and hosted many memorable parties for family and friends. They loved to travel and went to the beach in Wildwood, NJ, the Outer Banks in NC, and Myrtle Beach each summer where they would meet up with several military buddies. Ray loved Las Vegas and when they traveled there, they would also go to visit Ray’s sister, Rose, who resided in Huntington Beach, CA. Family was very important to Pat and she was always close with her parents, brother, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, and nieces and nephews. She was fun-loving, interesting to talk with, and loved sports- mostly professional football and basketball, witty, funny, and, all-around, a cool person to be with. Pat loved animals. In the 1970s, I got the bright idea that a pet skunk was the pet to have, and after Pat and Ray met my new prized possession (de-scented, of course), they decided that they wanted one as well. They went to Docktor’s Pet Center in Iverson Mall and brought home “Streaker”. He was a great topic of conversation and provided many laughs when they had friends come to visit, but, if you know anything about skunks, they hibernate, so Streaker went on a food binge, got up to about 75 pounds, and decided to camp out under their bed for the winter. When Streaker wasn’t in hibernation mode, Pat’s mother, Flossie, who lived with them, had to wear knee-high leather boots all the time because he loved to bite her legs. Needless to say, skunks do not make ideal pets! Pat also had a sweet dachshund named Happiness that provided them with years of love and companionship. In the nursing home, Beth, the activities coordinator, had a goldendoodle named Greta that Pat adored. She is a trained therapy dog, so she is allowed to go just about anywhere. Greta spent hours with Pat laying on her bed with her, and Pat always kept treats on her bedside table for her special pal. Pat dearly loved Greta and I think Greta dearly loved her in return. She even came to the hospital for a visit during one of Pat’s recent stays. Pat was elegant, always dressed to the nines with hair perfectly styled, nails manicured, full make-up every day with jewelry and purses to go with every outfit. I could go on and on about this woman that I have loved all my life, but to sum up her optimistic spirit, while her world became heartbreakingly small while confined to a bed in the nursing home, Pat would get dressed each morning and make up her face just as she had her entire adult life. She still loved getting her hair done, and the staff at Solomons called her the “lady with red lipstick.” Her room there had recently been changed so that her bed was near a window. There was a shepherd’s hook in the courtyard just outside her window, and, when I was there last, she said that she wished that there was a bird feeder and seed so she could watch the birds. I immediately went and bought both to take to her, but, sadly, they are still in my car. She left us before I could get them to her. I tell you this because she was always finding the small things that she could be happy about and find joy in, and tried very hard not to complain. She was a beautiful person and we were all blessed to have her in our lives. Pat was preceded in death by her parents Florence and Curmit Heflin, her in-laws Lloyd and Agnes Hammett, her husband Raymond Hammett, her brother Jimmy Heflin, brothers-in-law Robert Hammett, Thomas Corbett and William Gingery, sisters-in-law Patricia Corbett, Dulcie Hammett and Rosalie Gingery, and nephews Charles Gingery, Patrick Corbett and John Corbett. Those she left behind include her best friend Eileen Gough and her family, her sister-in-law Fran Heflin, her devoted niece Robin Hammett who has cared for her and handled her affairs since Pat became unable to; nieces Stacey, Sharon, Tami, Marybeth, and Tracey; nephews Bill, Russell, Mike, Steve, Tom, Jim and Kenneth as well as many great nieces, great nephews, other family members and friends. The family will receive friends on Monday, March 11, 2024 from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM with prayers recited at 7:00 PM in the Mattingley-Gardiner Funeral Home, Leonardtown, MD. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Tuesday, March 12, 2024 at 10:30 AM in Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Church, Solomons, MD, with Father Peter Giovanoni officiating. Interment will be held on Wednesday, March 13, 2024 at 10:00 AM at St. Michael’s Catholic Church Cemetery, Ridge, MD. Condolences may be made to the family at www.mgfh.com. Arrangements provided by the Mattingley-Gardiner Funeral Home and Cremation Services, P.A., Leonardtown, MD.