Patricia Alfredson

Patricia Alfredson, age 80, passed away on September 9, 2021, after a long illness. Pat was a long-time member of the Mount Vernon Chapter of Quilters Unlimited, and over the years has made dozens of lovely quilts for family and friends, and as donations to charity. One of her quilts, a Hawaiian-style applique quilt inspired by paper snowflakes, was featured in Traditional Quiltworks, a pattern magazine for traditional quilters. Pat’s husband, Len, is a retired Naval officer, and Pat served for twenty-two years as unofficial support staff, moving her family from from post to post, including a posting in Japan, where her daughter Tracy was born. Following her husband’s retirement from the Navy in 1988, Pat was happy to call Arlington her home, where she enjoyed playing in local bridge games, participating in dinner groups and attending the Little Theatre of Alexandria. Pat also worked for many years at the American Physical Therapy Association, and celebrated her love of history by volunteering at the National Archives and at the Smithsonian. Her projects included working as part of a team known as the Civil War Conservation Corps, digitizing Civil War pension case files, which tell the stories of thousands of widows, children, mothers, fathers, and siblings of Union soldiers. In an interview with the National Archives Prologue magazine in 2009, Pat said, “I truly love history, and working on the Civil War widows’ pension digitization project is fascinating because we’re really working on our own families.” Pat is survived by her beloved husband Len, daughter and son-in-law Tracy and Patrick, grandchildren Jacob and Elizabeth, and granddog Taro.

A Gathering will take place on Friday, June 17, 2022 from 2:00 PM until 5:00 PM at the Cunningham Turch Funeral Home, 811 Cameron Street, Alexandria, VA 22314

Donations in lieu of flowers may be made to the COPD Foundation, 3300 Ponce De Leon Blvd, Miami, FL 33134. https://www.copdfoundation.org/Take-Action/Donate/Donate-Now.aspx