Patsy Sheehan, 90, passed away peacefully on Oct. 7, 2025, surrounded by her family and her devoted “granddog” Miles. With the help of Talbot Hospice, she was able to depart this life gracefully at home as she had wished.
She was born on Sept. 22, 1935, in Franklin, the eldest daughter of Elmer and Shirley Hartman’s six children.
After graduating from Franklin High School in 1953 as class vice president and valedictorian, Mrs. Sheehan attended Maryland Medical Secretarial School in Hagerstown, Maryland, to prepare for her career as a medical secretary and transcriptionist.
After beginning work in Washington, D.C., she met and married Benjamin Franklin Reading in 1956. For more than two decades they lived in Northern Virginia and raised their three daughters Pamela Reading (William Denman), Jacqueline Yeatman (Gary) and Helen Reading.
Following her husband’s untimely death, she married John J. Sheehan and welcomed his four children, Jennifer, John Jr., Jacqueline and Judy, into her family. She and her husband spent their married life in Maryland, Delaware and southwest Florida, but no matter where she lived, she delighted in beautifying her surroundings by sewing clothes and home furnishings and tending her ornamental gardens.
Throughout her life, she enjoyed creative pursuits, including painting, crafts, and particularly crochet and needlework, and created many handcrafted treasures her family will cherish. She loved to read, play card and board games, and work crossword and jigsaw puzzles. She nurtured innumerable cats and dogs during the years, enjoyed watching birds, and even raised monarch butterflies on her porch.
It is a special blessing that she was able to fully participate in a lively celebration of her 90th birthday with her large and loving family shortly before her passing.
In addition to her husband, John, her daughters, stepdaughters, and stepson, she is survived by 14 grandchildren; five great-grandchildren; many nieces and nephews; a brother, Delano Wayne Hartman; and two sisters, Judy Diane Ratcliffe and Jo Ann Harrington.
She was also preceded in death by her older brother, Eugene Wilson Hartman; and a sister Nancy Louise Cannon.
Burial was held privately.
Memorial donations may be made to Talbot Hospice at https://talbothospice.org/, whose staff provided loving care through her final journey.
