Patricia "Pat" Wooldridge Toole

Patricia Wooldridge Toole died peacefully on October 29, 2023, at Arbor Acres in Winston-Salem.  She was 92.  With her was her cherished daughter-in-law, Christine Toole.  Pat was preceded in death two years earlier by her husband of 69 years, James Francis Toole.

Born January 15, 1931, in Newark, New Jersey, her east coast parents Bill and Bernice Stengel Wooldridge packed the baby and steamer trunks two years later to travel by boat through the Panama Canal and on to San Mateo, California.  Her parents used those years in the San Francisco Bay area to introduce Pat and her beloved brother Norman to the extraordinary natural beauty of both the coast and the high Sierra mountains.  Her years in California established a love of nature that forever infused her extraordinary gardens and informed her desire to visit the natural wonders of this state, our country, and the world.  Pat was a lifelong contributor to the Nature Conservancy, the Sierra Club and other environmental organizations long before Earth Day and environmental causes became standard in the conversation.  She believed strongly in generous contribution to social causes as well.

In 1948 and long before long distance telephone calls were affordable, Pat declined Stanford University and left her parents and California to set out on a three-day train ride that took her as a scholarship student to Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts.  There she saw and heard for the first time the crunch of fallen leaves that had changed color, hitchhiked with girlfriends to pick apples on Mountain Day, studied sociology, made life-long friends, and graduated magna cum laude in 1952.  She never failed to see the world with wonder and curiosity or to embrace its delights, no matter how trivial.

The same year she graduated Pat married her Navy flight surgeon beau.  Pat and Jim were deployed to Norfolk, Virginia, where she was a social worker until the couple moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  In Philadelphia, she continued her medical social work and first gained experience in fundraising.  In 1962 they moved to Winston-Salem, which Pat and Jim made their home until their passing.

Her four children, their happiness and their education (though not necessarily in that order!) were the love and focus of her life.  Education did not stop at the school house door.  In her view, it included the importance of volunteering in your community, learning to make cookies, omelets and roasts, attending ballet, feeding the birds and knowing how to make music.  Family dinners were a must.  She organized road trips with children and grandchildren to Broadway shows, national parks and world destinations, stirring a passion for travel, honing their powers of observation, and sharing an amazement for the wonders around us.  She was an extraordinary lover of books. She regularly read to her children and grandchildren.  All of them have books from her with notes written on the inside.

In 1973, Pat purchased farmland on the Yadkin River with her dear friend Jane Kelly.  They built a cabin with hand hewn wood from old tobacco barns, and it has served as a hub for gatherings with family and friends for 50 years.  With the independence of her children, Pat returned to playing the piano before she discovered acting on the Little Theatre community stage.  She returned to Wake Forest University to earn her MA in Theatre in 1982.  She then directed plays, taught voice and speech as an adjunct professor for seven years at Wake Forest, and was Director of Education at the Little Theatre for six years. 

Pat deeply cherished her friends and kept a voluminous correspondence that cluttered her desk and kept her calendar full.  She maintained regular contact with those from grammar and high school, dear friends made in Winston-Salem and from around the world during her travels with Jim, and new ones made in her final days.  She saw the beauty and light that shines in every one of us, understanding that a good life included friends from all walks and of all ages. 

Pat believed firmly in her community, fairness, and social change.  In the late 1960’s she represented First Presbyterian Church as a founding member of the Experimental Church sponsored by the Salem Presbytery and led by the Rev. James Chatham.  Pat and that group were deeply involved in empowering the residents of the 11^th Street community with programs like the Dashiki Shop.  She volunteered herself and her children with the Crisis Control and Samaritan Ministries, directed Christmas pageants, raised funds to restore Lloyd’s Presbyterian Church, served on the board of Winston-Salem State University Campus Ministry, and was a regular attendee of the Prime Timers Sunday School group at First Presbyterian Church. 

Pat strongly supported the visual and performing arts in Winston-Salem.  She helped raise the funds that located the North Carolina School of the Arts to Winston-Salem and served on the board of the Delta Fine Arts Center.  She entertained and attracted to Winston-Salem leaders in education, journalism, music, art, politics, the environment and medicine.  She was committed to service, had compassion for those in need, and appreciated that goodness could be found in every person.

Pat is survived by her four children – William and Lisa Toole of Raleigh, Anne Toole Smith and Richard Smith of Pinehurst, James and Christine Toole of Winston-Salem, and Sean and Diana Toole of Brooklyn, NY.  She is also survived by ten grandchildren – Tyler and wife Megan McDowell, Lauren Toole and husband Seth Morris, Kaitlyn and husband Alex Yager, Kyle and wife Suzanne Newman, Jimmy Toole, Robert Toole, Dean Toole, Grace Newman, Leo Toole, Charles Toole, and six great-grandchildren.  The quality of her life was much improved in her later years by the support of her loving caregiver, Kenya Lowrey.

Pat’s celebration of life will be held at 11am Saturday, November 18 at Piner Hall, Arbor Acres, 1240 Arbor Road, Winston-Salem, with a reception to follow.    In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made in Pat’s honor to Samaritan Ministries Soup Kitchen, 414 E. Northwest Blvd., Winston-Salem, NC 27105.  Hayworth-Miller Silas Creek Chapel is serving the family of Mrs. Toole.