Sunshine. That was what the faculty, staff and teachers of Peachtree Middle School in DeKalb County called Patty Doyle, whose delightful and charismatic personality had brought a little extra sunshine into the lives of everybody at the school for over 20 years, said longtime friend and co-worker Ava Moore.
“A lot of people called her sunshine because she always brightened everyone’s day,” she said. “She made people see the good side of everything even when things weren’t that pleasant.”
Doyle began her career with Peachtree Middle as a volunteer in the early 1980s. Over a span of five years, she was hired on to work the front desk before eventually becoming the school’s registrar. But she did much more than file school records and enter grades.
She genuinely cared for the students she came to know and love, and when her health forced her to retire in 2012, her absence was felt by everybody, Moore said.
“It hasn’t been quite as sunny here since she left,” she said. “She worked so tirelessly and no one can replace her. Those shoes are too big to fill.”
Patricia Agnes Doyle, of Dunwoody, died Tuesday from complications of ovarian cancer at Atlanta Hospice. She was 67.
Her funeral is planned for 4 p.m. Monday at Kingswood United Methodist Church. A reception will follow the service at Kingsley Racquet and Swim Club. H.M. Patterson & Son, Oglethorpe Chapel was in charge of cremation arrangements. A second memorial service is being scheduled for the end of May in New York Mills, N.Y., and interment will occur later in Whitesboro, N.Y.
The people of Peachtree Middle School weren’t the only ones lucky enough to experience Doyle’s unique selflessness. While she treated many of the middle school students like her own children, nothing could compare to the level of devotion she had for her family, always putting them above herself, said her husband of 44 years, Bill Doyle.
“If I ever got off track or caught in a storm, she was the lighthouse that brought me home,” he said. “She was like a mother extraordinaire. Her whole life was about us and other people – not her.”
Patty Doyle ensured the constant happiness and well-being of her loved ones by using a “purposeful stubbornness” that never faltered, her husband said. She would settle for nothing but the best for those she loved, and her altruistic spirit was often inspiring to others, Moore said.
“She would always encourage you to seek the best in things,” she said. “Just being around her and her character made people want to be better. She was an amazing person.”
In addition to her husband, Doyle is survived by two sons, James Doyle and John Michael Doyle, both of Atlanta; a brother, Edward Rozanski of Stuart, Fla.; one sister, Irene Cleary of Whitesboro, N.Y.; and two grandchildren.
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