Mary Patricia McLish Brutsché, age 92, of Alexandria, VA passed away on September 29, 2018 surrounded by her children. Pat was born April 28, 1926 to Holmes Howard and Laura Corinne (Parker) McLish in Yuma, AZ.  She grew up in Roswell, NM, the oldest of three children.  After the early deaths of her parents, at age 15, she and her brother, Holmes, and sister, Shan, were divided between friends and relatives to be raised.  Pat went to live with relatives in in Kansas City, MO and then Englewood, CO, where she finished high school.  She excelled academically and was extensively involved in extracurricular school activities.  After high school in 1944, she moved to Dallas TX to enter nurse’s training. As a nursing student she was admitted to the United States Cadet Nurse Corps, which had been activated by President Franklin Roosevelt to train young women as nurses during World War II.  While training at Parkland Hospital in Dallas, she met the love of her life, Robert Legate Brutsché, who was attending medical school under the U.S. Navy V-12 Program at Texas Christian University.  They both graduated in 1947 and married on June 10^th of that year. Bob had received his commission in the U.S. Navy and soon transferred to the U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS), where he served for the next 40 years in successive assignments in the Federal Bureau of Prisons and the Indian Health Service, leading them to live in many different locations across the United States while raising a family of five children. Their journey began in Washington, DC, where Pat worked as a nurse in pediatrics until starting a family. They then continued on to Leavenworth, KS, San Francisco, CA, Springfield, MO, Statin Island, NY, Savannah, GA, Fort Defiance, AZ, Gallup, NM, Albany, CA, and Oklahoma City, OK. Ultimately they settled into the Stratford Landing neighborhood of Alexandria, VA, where they lived until Bob’s passing in 2014, and where Pat had continued to live until present (a total of 49 years).

Since childhood and throughout her life, Pat was full of life, initiating, creating, organizing, leading, and participating in numerous and varied social and organizational activities, projects and programs, wherever she lived. She enjoyed activities such as dancing, singing, acting, directing and producing in Little Theater, drawing, painting, arts and crafts, womens’ clubs/organizations, charity work, and especially card playing (particularly bridge) and bowling (on numerous leagues). As a USPHS wife, throughout Bob’s nearly 40 year service career, Pat was always highly involved in USPHS-related activities, particularly the Officers Wives Club. She continued to live an active life with her longtime participation in the Stratford Landing Women’s Club, Fort Belvoir Officers Wives Bowling League (for 48 years), and neighborhood bridge group up until a couple of months of her passing.

Family was always Pat’s number one interest. She was very loving and enthusiastically supportive of the activities and interests of her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, always making any event great fun.  In order to ensure that their family could remain close and in contact, for over 35 years, Bob and Pat treated their entire crew to yearly family reunions in Carolina Beach, NC, where the family could spend a week together for fun and relaxation.  Wanting to know more about her family history, she became interested in and extensively researched the family genealogy for 45 of the last 49 years in Alexandria, VA.

Pat is survived by her five children: Mike (Ann) Brutsché of Edmond, OK; Suzi (Jim) Wixson of Roswell, GA; Mark (Karen) Brutsché, Herndon, VA; Scott Brutsché, Alexandria, VA, Nancy (Stan Eisenstein) Brutsché, Olney, MD; and sister Shan Guadagnoli and niece Beverly (R.L.) Davis, Albuquerque, NM; as well as nine grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren, to whom she was affectionately known as “Mimi”.  She was preceded in death by her husband Bob and her brother Holmes McLish.

Visitation will be held at Cunningham Funeral Home, 811 Cameron St. Alexandria from 3 to 5 pm on Sunday October 7, 2018.  A memorial service will be held at the same location, 10 am to 12 pm on Monday October 8, 2018.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests contributions to charities of choice.

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