Nuair a thiocas an bás ní imeoidh sé folamh – “When death comes, he won’t go away empty.”- Irish Proverb
Dr. Patricia “Patty” Ann Gainor peacefully transitioned from her earthly to her heavenly life Sunday, February 2, 2025, with the company of family and caregivers.
With tenacity demonstrated early in life as a polio survivor, Patty was known for her gracious spirit, passionate convictions, and keen intellect.
Born February 28, 1944, to Bretzel Cletus and Juanita Grace Dean Gainor in Roanoke, Va., the first years of her life were spent in Virginia, Florida, and Maryland. Ultimately her family came back to their generational roots in Clarksburg, where she graduated from Washington Irving High School in 1962.
From there she attended West Virginia University, excelling in both her under- and post-graduate studies. She found her true passion for child psychiatry during her medical school fellowship from which she built her career.
While she raised her children, she focused her practice in North Central West Virginia as medical director of the Chestnut Ridge Day Hospital and Valley Health Clinic. Aligned with her emphasis on pediatric care in her professional life, she was also a stalwart advocate for the welfare of her community’s youth on a personal level with her vocal advocacy and philanthropic commitment to making her world a better place.
Outside of her community and professional work, you would find Patty cultivating her happy place – her garden. A lover of anything that bloomed, she beautified all of her surroundings with her stunning flower gardens inspired by her love of art and nature.
Wanting to expand her reach and influence, she moved to Zanesville, Ohio in 1997 as partner of Ohio Psychiatric Associates, Inc., where she not only assisted her patients and their families in cultivating better lives for themselves, but for her colleagues as well.
Known by some as their ‘Zanesville mother’, she encouraged and aided those she held dear with her kindness, support, and unending empathy to grow and thrive. Her strength and determination have been an inspiration to so many.
Patty was preceded in death by her parents; her older brother, James Dean; her sister-in-law, Louise Dean; and her dear baby brother, William “Bill” Gainor.
She is survived by her three loving children, Rebecca Frances Berger, Joseph “Joe” Douglas Berger, and William Andrew “Andy” Berger; daughters-in- law, Dr. Carolyn Skinner and Helen (Prymak) Berger; and overly doted upon grandchildren, Claire and Charlotte (Joe and Carolyn), Liam and Sebastian (Andy and Helen). Additionally, she is survived by a sister- in-law, Sara Jane Gainor.
Dearest Ma, you have gone from this earth and will be sorely missed, but the impact you’ve had here will echo through eternity.
Peter 1:23-24:
For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring Word of God. For all people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall.
A memorial visitation with the family to honor Dr. Gainor’s life and legacy will be held from 2 until 4 p.m. Saturday, February 8, in Smith Funeral & Cremation Care, 108 Holland Avenue, Morgantown. A Memorial Service and Celebration of Life will take place at the funeral home at 4 p.m.
In lieu of flowers (and if you decide to send them anyway – ABSOLUTELY NO CARNATIONS!), please consider a contribution to Animal Friends of North Central West Virginia.
In memory of Patty, we invite you to leave your memories and upload photos to the memorial page. As we gather to celebrate her life, let us remember her not with tears, but with joy, for she lived a life full of love, laughter, and kindness. Let us honor Patricia’s memory by living as she did, with a heart full of love and a soul full of kindness.
Condolences and other gifts of comfort may be offered to the family at www.smithfcc.com.
