Patricia Rimer

Patricia C. Rimer, 89, of Gulf Breeze, passed away Wednesday, May 27, 2009 at her home with family and friends at her side. Formerly of Upland, CA, she and her husband moved to Gulf Breeze in 1999. Mrs. Rimer was born Mary Patricia Cunningham on Jan. 28, 1920, to George Wilton Cunningham, Sr. and Florence Severin Cunningham in Warren, PA. Upon graduation from Warren High School she entered Columbia University, Presbyterian Hospital School of Nursing from which she graduated in 1941. She was assistant night director of Harkness Pavilion at Presbyterian until 1944 when she joined the war effort in the Navy Nurse Corps. She served in the dispensary at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD, and Philadelphia Naval Hospital. While at Annapolis she met Lt. (j.g.) John Patton Rimer of New York and Wilton, CT. They were married May 19, 1946. Their early life together as a Navy family took them along the eastern seaboard before Mr. Rimer resigned his commission and moved the family to Southern California where he joined General Dynamics Corporation. Mrs. Rimer was thrilled the family was able to travel extensively with General Dynamics, living in The Hague, Holland, Bremen, Germany, and Tehran, Iran. Always believing in the duty to serve the communities in which she lived, she was active in numerous organizations in each of the countries and cities where she resided. This included serving as President of the American Women's Club in Tehran, President of The Globe Guilders of the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego, and President of the Crippled Children's Society in Claremont, CA. Mrs. Rimer was preceded by her husband in 2003 and her daughter, Stephanie Rees Phipps, in 2008. She is survived by her daughters, Karen (Mike) Jurkowich of Gulf Breeze, Marina Rimer (Dennis Randolph) of Los Angeles, CA, and Christina (Dave) Darling of Hemet, CA; grandchildren Gareth (Amanda) Rees of Silver Spring, MD, Helen Rees of Plymouth, Devon, England, Robert May, Trevor Pike and Alex Pike of Hemet, CA; great-grand daughters Ashlyn and Alana; brothers George Cunningham and Robert (Jackie) Cunningham of North Warren, PA, and several nieces and nephews. A memorial Mass will be celebrated on Thurs June 18, 2009 at 11:00 a.m. Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic Church, Pensacola Beach, with Msgr. Luke Hunt, Rev. James Valenzuela, and Rev. Sean Knox concelebrating. The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to Covenant Hospice, 5041 N. 12th Ave., Pensacola, FL 32504 or NCADD of Northwest Florida, 8738 Ortega Park Dr., Navarre, FL 32566.

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