1952 - 2006

Patricia Gail Price "Patty" passed away June 15, 2006 at home in San Leandro, after a nearly three-year struggle with the complications of and treatment for ovarian cancer. She was 54.

Born May 17, 1952, she grew up in Denver, CO, and moved to the Bay Area when she was in her mid-30s. Patty had an unwavering commitment to social justice, developed, she said, through the influence of her parents and her Catholic School upbringing. She was a very active member of student government at the University of Colorado, Boulder, during particularly turbulent times. After graduation in 1976 from the University of Denver Law School, Patty spent 28 years as a public interest attorney, in both Colorado and California. She practiced throughout the Bay Area, effectively advocating for the rights of children, battered women, and people who were poor, disabled, or otherwise disenfranchised. Among the highlights of her career: during the 1990s, she was the director of the Public Interest Law Firm in San Jose, where she was the original attorney for the plaintiffs in a race discrimination case against a well-known restaurant chain that eventually became a major nationwide class action. She later spent more than five years as a managing attorney, and then as deputy director of Central California Legal Services.

Patty was also a lifelong athlete. She played varsity basketball and softball at the University of Colorado and continued her involvement in sports throughout her life. She was a softball umpire in SF, and was proud to have been elected to the National Indicator Society, an honor reserved for individuals who have been selected to umpire at three national tournaments. She served as the coach of her oldest daughter's fast-pitch softball team until shortly before her death. Patty had very strong ideas about what was right and what was wrong, and she was never afraid to stand up for what she believed in, even to her own personal peril. While she could be a tough, take-charge, sometimes driven person, she could be very gracious and generous and made friends with a diverse array of people. She was also able to just stop and enjoy simply sitting in the sun, something she was fortunate to be able to do in her own backyard in her final months.

She was an excellent mentor to young attorneys. She loved animals and had one to three dogs at her side most of her life. Above all, she loved her daughters, Lindsay Price-Friend, 10, and Aimee Price-Friend, 6, with all of her heart, and she stubbornly held on to be with them as long as possible.

Patty is survived by her partner of 15 years, Teresa Friend; and her daughters, Lindsay and Aimee. She is also survived by her loving and beloved Colorado family, her brother Jim, sister-in-law Peggy, nieces Melissa, Michelle, and Marcy, and nephew Brian, and by grandniece and grandnephews Sydney, Gabrielle, and Aiden, and their extended families. She was preceded in death by her father, Woodie; her mother, Gail; and her younger brother, Phil. She is remembered fondly by her in-laws in Oregon, and by very numerous friends and colleagues, many of whom provided tremendous support to Patty and her family during her final months.