Patricia Severn Obituary

Severn
PATRICIA E. SEVERN
September 7, 1941 December 3, 2020
Patricia E Severn of Colorado Springs passed away December 3, 2020, at the age of 79. Pat was born in Casper, Wyoming to a large Irish Catholic family and was the daughter of a sheep rancher. Pat graduated in 1964 from Mills College with a B.A. in history and chemistry and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. She then received an MA in history from the University of Pennsylvania, where she met her husband Alan.
Pat joined IBM as programmer in 1967 as one of the few women in the programming area. While at IBM she went on to receive an MBA from Temple University and rose through several management positions leading tasks across the United States, Canada and France. After a successful a career as an IBM Certified Project Manager, she retired in 2015. After retirement, she used her project management skills to assist in the renovation of the First Congregational Church of Colorado Springs and serve as a Board Member of West Side Cares, an organization providing crisis services to Colorado Springs residents.
Pat loved the mountains of the West, from the mountains in her childhood home in Wyoming to her honeymoon where she and Alan hiked the Sierra Nevada mountains, to hiking around Colorado Springs, often accompanied by her dogs.
Pat was always exceptionally talented in her hobbies. When she began her career, Pat sewed her own professional clothes using Vogue patterns, and made curtains and upholstered furniture in her home with Alan. She did needlepoint and embroidery as a hobby. Later in life she learned to make stained glass windows and was an avid collector of Audubon bird prints and prints of the American west.
"May the road rise to meet you, and the wind always be at your back.
May the sunshine warm on your face, and the rains fall softly on your field.
May you be in Heaven, a full half hour before the devil knows you are dead"
Pat is survived by her husband, Alan Severn, and by their daughters Jane Severn (Charles Pruitt} and Lisa Goddard (Michael Harris) and by her granddaughters Katie and Jenny Pruitt.
Following cremation, a memorial service will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, gifts may be made to Mills College of Oakland, CA or West Side Cares of Colorado Springs, CO.