PATRICIA ELAINE HARRISON

Saints Matthew and Mark, Barrington, R.I.

Friday, October 10, 2025

 

As I think about Pat Harrison, the phrase that comes into my mind is “a life well spent.” This phrase is part of a saying attributed to Leonardo da Vinci: “As a well-spent day brings happy sleep, so a life well spent brings happy death.”

 

Pat’s life was indeed well spent—a life spent in the service of her fellow human beings. After earning two degrees at the University of Rhode Island, Pat devoted 30 years to specialized lab work in hematology at Rhode Island Hospital. Her obituary notes that “Known for her strong spirit and sharp mind, she combined her scientific knowledge with her pastoral heart, often ministering to patients and their families during their most difficult times.”

 

This instinctive care for patients and their families gave Pat the growing sense that she was called to something more. When she was a little girl, she wanted to be a preacher. Back then, she was told, No, women couldn’t do that. But this hankering kept returning. And so, later in life, she embarked upon a second vocation as an ordained minister in the American Baptist Church. To prepare for ordination, she took courses and earned her Master of Divinity degree at Andover Newton Theological School.

 

She told me that early in her theological studies, she was tempted to question and doubt her calling. Her drive from Rhode Island up I-95 to Newton Centre, which she made several times a week to attend classes after work, was arduous. One day, when she was feeling particularly discouraged, she asked God to give her a sign that this was really what he wanted her to do. Then, on the drive, she found herself driving behind a truck. On it were written the words “Guaranteed Overnight Delivery,” with the first letter of each word highlighted: G-O-D. God. Immediately, she recognized with a laugh that this was precisely the sign she’d asked for. That put an end to any doubts about her vocation. That’s the kind of Christian she was—able to discern God present and speaking to her even in the traffic on the Interstate. And not without a sense of humor.

 

After her ordination at the First Baptist Church in America, she served as a minister in churches in both Rhode Island and Massachusetts, including People’s Baptist in Cranston, First Baptist in Attleboro, and the Harbor Church on Block Island.

 

Then, about 15 years ago, Pat found a spiritual home in the Episcopal Church. Together with her old friend and sometime music teacher, Mary Jane Lide, she attended Saint John’s, Barrington, for a year or so, and then moved here and settled in what was then Saint Matthew’s Church. On December 14, 2014, our Bishop, Nicholas Knisely, confirmed her with the laying on of hands during his episcopal visitation. And so, she officially became an Episcopalian.

 

It was clear to me, however, that this move was in no sense a repudiation of her Baptist heritage and ministry, which remained precious to her and was indeed formative of her spirituality. However, she told me that she was drawn to the liturgical and sacramental aspects of the Anglican tradition. So her Confirmation was really a natural progression in the spiritual journey she’d been on all along. 

 

You may have noticed that the hymns we chose for today’s service are the kind commonly found in both the Baptist and Episcopal musical traditions. I hope Pat approves. She was a great singer.

 

About seven or eight years ago, Pat became increasingly housebound on account of her mounting health problems. When she could no longer attend church, however, the Church came to her. Both our clergy and our Lay Eucharistic Ministers brought her Communion. And once we started live-streaming our services during the pandemic, she started watching them faithfully.

 

And so, now Pat continues her journey. As a well-spent day brings happy sleep, so a life well spent brings happy death. We gather here today to give thanks for the gift of Pat’s life and ministry. We pray for the repose of her soul, that God will bring her to the perfection of Christ’s new creation. And we trust that after she has slept the sleep of death, God will raise her, on the Last Day, to eternal life in the company of the angels and saints.