Patricia Lillian McFarland Foster

Patricia Lillian McFarland Foster, born Dec. 23, 1937, the daughter of James McFarland and Gertrude Daniell, died Aug. 7, 2019, at The Kanas Center for Hospice Care in Quiogue.

Pat was raised in the Wakefield section of the Bronx, where she attended St. Frances of Rome Grammar School and Evander Childs High School.

Her first job was with the New York Telephone Company, counting coins. At age 20, she married the boy across the street, John A. Foster, who had returned home after serving the in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War.

The couple soon moved to Syosset, Long Island, to raise a family. In 1961, at the start of the Berlin Crisis, her husband, John, was called back to active duty in the Navy, leaving Pat pregnant, with four of her children still in diapers. After a year, in 1962, her husband returned home and was reinstated as an NYPD police officer.

The family moved to Plainview, where she raised six children. After 25 years of marriage and as a stay-at-home mom, Pat enrolled in the Nassau Community College School of Nursing and graduated as an R.N. Pat was employed by the United Presbyterian Home in Woodbury as a supervisor of nursing. Pat further continued her education, receiving a bachelor’s degree from Westbury Community College. She retired in the year 2000 and relocated after 40 years living in Plainview. She had a house built in Southold on the North Fork of Long Island and wintered in Boca Raton, Fla.

Pat enjoyed cruising with family and traveling abroad. She was active and took part in the annual reunion of her husband’s Navy ship, the cruiser USS Northampton, in different parts of the country and attended the annual NYPD Sergeants general meeting in Florida.

Most of all, Pat was gratefully blessed with her 11 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. Pat was married for 61 years and, late in life, was stricken with Alzheimer’s disease. She loved music and like to dance when Alexa was asked to play songs by Patsy Cline. She was loved by all and will be greatly missed. Family was number one. She now joins her deceased son, John, a retired police officer, in heaven.

Pat is survived by her husband, John A. Foster; six children: Robbin and spouse Jeffrey, Jacqueline and spouse Peter, James and spouse Frank, Joanne and spouse Thomas, Jeffery and spouse Lina and daughter-in-law Heide, surviving spouse of the late John; 11 grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren.

The family received friends Aug. 11 at DeFriest-Grattan Funeral Home in Southold. The Liturgy of Christian Burial was celebrated Aug. 12 at St. Patrick’s R.C. Church in Southold. The Rev. Emmanuel-Garet Ifeakor officiated. The Rite of Committal was private.

This is a paid notice.