- May 1, 2024
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To those who knew her best, she was an interesting individual with a quiet sense of humor.
To her colleagues, who could also be her close friends, she was a keen decision-maker, one who never backed down from meticulously researched conclusions.
When Nora Patterson died on Thursday, Feb. 8, at age 79, she left behind a legacy in Sarasota due to her career as a city commissioner, mayor, county commissioner and dedicated public servant.
Patterson is repeatedly described as unlike those who would seek prestige or attention. Her husband John Patterson said she was a quiet worker, although not shy.
Yet she has also been repeatedly described as a person of widely varied interests and a sharp intellect, qualities that led her to follow her high ambitions.
Nora Patterson was a rarity, recalled John Patterson.
She was a New York City girl who didn’t have a problem with being dragged along to camp on remote islands.
She loved the outdoors. As a young person, she’d learned to fish in Central Park from the Puerto Rican youths there.
The backgrounds of the couple, who started dating at Duke University where she obtained her bachelor’s degree in psychology, were a contrast.
She grew up attending a private school in New York City and had a father who was involved in theater. John Patterson grew up attending a public high school in Tallahassee.
“I don’t know what she saw in me, but she liked me and that’s all I cared about,” he said.
Yet over the course of their marriage, they would share in common the love of many things like art, architecture, dining and travel.
She was always open to new experiences, recalled Patterson.
Her first job after college, before she obtained her master's degree in education with a focus on educational psychology at the University of Florida, was at a rural elementary school in Dixie County in Florida.
With many children coming to class barefoot, it was a far cry from New York City, but she embraced the challenge, enjoying the chance to meet Floridians and raft down the Suwannee River.
After they came to Sarasota in 1970, she co-owned a garden and landscaping business on Osprey Avenue, before taking up real estate and serving as president of the board of directors of Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida.
Then, she was asked to run for the City Commission.
Patterson served on the City Commission for a period of eight years, including a term as mayor, and served on the Sarasota County Commission from 1998 until November 2014, with three terms as chair. Her career eventually saw her campaigning for the Florida Senate in 2016.
According to John Patterson, some of her proudest accomplishments on the City Commission were her work toward fiscal contributions, including funding for employee benefits, and the pursuit of infrastructure in the downtown area like a connection between the bayfront and Main Street, safety for pedestrians and streetscaping.
“The city started growing in the early 1990s, and I don't think it was an accident; I think we had some good commissioners who were on the ball,” he said.
During her time with the County Commission, she represented the county on regional boards that helped with the water supply for a four-county area, was involved with the Sarasota/Manatee Metropolitan Planning Organization and oversaw the maintenance of the Intracoastal Waterway in a four-county area.
John Patterson credits her fiscal prudence for reserves that could be utilized during the Great Recession, and also highlighted her actions related to parks and public lands and her support of the county's 2050 plan.
Gulf Coast Community Foundation Senior Vice President Jon Thaxton, a former county commissioner, highlighted her work in improving water quality in Sarasota Bay, her steadfast support for purchasing environmentally sensitive lands and her care for children and issues impacting them.
Thaxton first met Patterson when she was running for the City Commission.
“I thought she was a little bit quirky, and I kind of liked that. It was very clear, though, from the first meeting, that she was a very serious person.”
He described her as sharing with him a belief in preserving the environment, and a “hawkish” approach to growth and development. They became good friends who would often discuss fishing stories together.
“Her humor was enhanced by that personality trait that when she did something funny, you would just never see it coming,” Thaxton said.
Nonetheless, among her colleagues, she earned the reputation of a meticulous decision-maker.
“You felt assured that when she did make a decision, that it was as grounded and as well-researched as it possibly could have been … and as a result of that, when I found myself on the opposite vote of Commissioner Patterson … I would always second-guess myself,” he said.
Patterson was one of two women on the commission for around a decade, along with Shannon Staub. As a result, the two became close.
Staub, who represented Venice, noted Patterson always took the needs of South County into consideration, something she said is often not seen among residents of Sarasota.
“I think what she brought as a person, and it flowed over to her professional life, was that she was open to listening to every idea that was out there, and would give it deep thought, and would usually come up with some wonderful and valuable ideas for solving problems and for sharing her view of what friendship was, and how valuable it was,” Staub said.
However, Patterson’s time on the County Commission was also beset with personal tragedy.
The Pattersons’ daughter, Kim Patterson, was diagnosed with acute mylogenous leukemia, and in 2000, died from the complications of a bone marrow transplant.
During her time as a patient at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Kim Patterson created Kim’s Fund, which donates towards leukemia research and assistance.
According to Thaxton, because of the need for Nora and John Patterson to be with Kim Patterson during her treatments, the schedule of the County Commission was altered, a change which remains in place today.
Even at a time when other commissioners felt the gravity of what Patterson was going through, she was able to forge ahead, Thaxton recalled.
“Wow, what strength,” he said. I don't know where a person gets strength like that. But she had it.”
Similarly, as a leader, she was not intimidated by any person, he recalled.
“If you could script an elected official, a policymaker, a public servant, all one would need to do is repeat Nora Patterson's qualities, because she was so disciplined, so honest, so forthright, that you just couldn't ask — you just couldn't ask — for a better policymaker."
Patterson’s work did not end with her political contributions.
When she died following her battle with Alzheimer’s disease, she left behind a legacy that extended to many facets of the community, with her name etched into Sarasota at Nora Patterson Bay Island Park as of 2015.
She served on boards including Teen Court of Sarasota, Jewish Family and Children's Services and the Plymouth Harbor Board of Trustees.
Plymouth Harbor CEO Jeff Weatherhead said while he did not have the chance to know Patterson at the height of her influence, he sees the impact she left.
Patterson was instrumental in a project known as the Northwest Garden Building, which opened in 2017 and which consisted of residences for assisted living and memory care.
“I think that we would probably all like to have the opportunity to make that kind of impact in the world. And Nora did it, and we are eternally grateful,” he said.
