Patricia Berry Davidson

Patricia Berry Davidson, 80, of Charlotte, North Carolina, passed peacefully October 30, 2023 after a valiant 10 year fight with cancer. Pat grew up in Drexel, North Carolina, the daughter of Margaret Hildebrand and Vurland Jones Berry. She was a proud graduate of Meredith College that led to a rewarding 40 year career in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School System; teaching at Cotswold, Billingsville and Sharon Elementary schools. After retirement, Pat dedicated herself to her many friends and neighbors, the Walking Club, serving as an election judge, watching sports, playing mahjong and reading. She found joy in every day!

Pat did everything with her “Big Orange Heart” full of love, faith, joy, passion, and hope! She often said she had a wonderful childhood. She was the glue that joined her family and friends. She delighted in sharing in the everyday lives of her friends and their families, including their pets! She also shared in their sorrows with compassion and encouragement. Her handwritten notes, with her unique “Pat logo”, made you smile before you even read her tender and wise words. Her quick wit, love of “sassy quotes” and self-control to refrain from using “ugly words” (like her Granny occasionally did), brought many laughs, while teaching life lessons too.

Pat was “beyond passionate” in her 40 year teaching career; she modeled that learning is truly a lifelong endeavor. Even on her Homegoing day, she was delighted to have a nursing student shadowing her wonderful RN.

It also made her heart happy to see visitors coming to the Little Free Library in her yard. She especially loved reading to the little people on her bench and they delighted in her animated stories. She would often make up “Pat stories” (true or not) that made our everyday lives full of laughter…even hers!

Pat’s yard was a haven for wildlife. She even named each season’s fawns whose mothers found her yard to be their refuge.

She continually impacted lives with her whole-hearted generosity and creative ways of expressing her love in words and actions. She always put others first! She exemplified the true meaning of delight, because of “Who” she delighted in every day. Her life was a witness of Psalm 37:4 ~ ”Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” After the blessing by her nurse, who had positioned her bed to view the beautiful sunrise, in peace and quiet serenity, Pat said, “Imagine what it must look like in Heaven.” Just a few short hours later, she wrote on her small whiteboard:

“Fabulous 80 years and Heaven even better. Thanks to all.”

Pat was very grateful for the excellent medical care she was given these past 10 years and personally would want to thank Dr. Justin Favaro of Oncology Specialists of Charlotte, Dr. William Warlick, Jr. and Dr. Kevin Roof of Novant Health Radiation Oncology, and Dr. Lori Taylor of Novant Health, as well as all their medical teams. In addition, the compassionate, skilled nurses of the 6A floor of Novant Health Main cared for Pat as “family”, with grace and dignity, during her last week of life.

In addition to her parents, she was predeceased by her brother, Kenneth D. Berry. She is survived by nieces Robin Wiseman and Donna Howery, and nephews David Berry and Kenneth D. Berry, Jr., as well as numerous cousins.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made in Pat’s honor to the charity of choice.

Sossoman Funeral Home and Crematory Center is assisting with the arrangements.