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Patricia Willard Heil ’58

Patricia was born in Portland and raised in North Bend, Oregon. She graduated from North Bend High School in 1954 and won a scholarship to attend Reed, where she studied anthropology and linguistics. In 1961, she met Charles Heil ’60 at church, and he proposed on their first date. They got married and Patricia devoted her life to raising their five children. Later, she was a child care provider at several churches.

A gracious and quiet person with a gift for listening, she loved nothing more than being home or at the family’s cottage in Agate Beach, but traveled to visit daughters living in Germany and Japan. In her final years, her sweet spirit prevailed throughout her battle with frontotemporal degeneration. Patricia is survived by her husband of 56 years; her children, Benjamin Heil ’84, Andrew Heil, Lisa Heil, Sara Swanborn, and Amy Worsley Heil; and her brother, Richard Willard.

Appeared in Reed magazine: March 2018

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