Patricia "Patty" Ellen Forrer's Obituary
Patricia “Patty” Ellen Forrer passed peacefully on February 22, 2026, after a brief hospital stay in Ashburn, Virginia. Born in Benton Harbor, Michigan on July 27, 1939, to Harlow Merrill Braddon and Ellen Harrietta Williams, Patty was the youngest of two siblings. She was raised in Coloma, Michigan and attended Western Michigan University. At Western Michigan, she met her future husband and ROTC student, Dennis. After graduation in June of 1960, Patty and Denny married, and as he lovingly describes, she became an “Army Wife” bound for a post in Europe. While stationed in Baumholder, Germany, she gave birth to her son, Steven.
During the next decades, Patty put her degree in education to work teaching at schools across numerous U.S Army posts and their host communities and she earned a master’s degree in education from George Mason University, in Fairfax, Virginia, in 1980. She worked for Loudoun County Public Schools for 20 years, spending her last service years as Principal at Algonkian Elementary School.
After retirement, Patty and Denny moved to Fawn Lake in Spotsylvania, Virginia, where she enjoyed golf, gardening, baking, and visits from three grandsons, until returning to Ashburn, Virginia in 2012. Patty was a talented seamstress, crocheter, and knitter. She continued the family tradition of quilting from her mother and aunts, making beautiful quilts in unique patterns and gifting them to her grandsons in their favorite colors. Patty had recently completed the time-consuming task of researching and archiving several generations of family ancestry.
Patty was preceded in death by her brother, Franklin. She is survived by her husband of 65 years, Dennis B. Forrer; her son Steven and daughter-in-law Cindy Forrer (McLean, VA) and grandsons Hunter K. Forrer (Roanoke, VA), Cole M. Forrer (Sterling, VA), and Dylan R. Forrer (Pittsburgh, PA).
She will be remembered for her bright smile and seemingly boundless energy. She touched many lives over her 86 years. A private service will be scheduled for a future date in Monroe, MI.
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