Patricia Kay Reichert

Patricia Kay Higgins Reichert, age 70, of Marietta, GA, passed away on June 24th, 2023. She was preceded in death by her parents Elber D. and Rilla Mae Rolin Higgins, her brother Ron Higgins, and her dear friend Vic Kirby. She is survived by her beloved husband of 26 years, Paul L. Reichert, Jr.; cherished siblings: brother and sister-in-law Eddie and Cathie Higgins, Sugar Hill, GA; sisters and brothers-in-law Elaine and Ron Lee, Glendale, AZ, and Robin and David Chapman, Blairsville, GA; sister-in-law Pam Higgins, Baldwin, GA; several nieces and nephews, grand nieces and nephews, and cousins; her best friends, Wanda Mathias, Jasper, GA, Kathy White, Dallas, GA, Marcelle Mahan, Marietta, GA, and Doris Blanton, Marietta, GA; her beloved dog Chip; and her husband’s sons Paul and Renata Reichert (their delightful daughters Paloma and Beatrice), Atlanta, GA, and Joseph Reichert and Ginette Picchetti, Norcross, GA. Patricia was born December 28, 1952 in Buford, Georgia. She was a 1970 honors graduate of North Gwinnett High School and a 1974 honors graduate of Georgia State University, earning a Bachelor of Arts in English and a teaching certificate. She was a member of several academic, business, and service organizations. Like her father, she was a singer. She began singing in church at the age of 3. In the mid-1960s, she won a competition to appear on the “Stars of Tomorrow” TV show in Atlanta. She represented North Gwinnett High School at literary competitions in solo and trio, and together with her friend Wanda, sang at numerous weddings, funerals, and gospel conventions all over north Georgia. Over the years, she was a member of many church choirs, community choruses, and semiprofessional singing groups. She started her work career as a medical assistant for doctors of various disciplines and then moved to the American College of Rheumatology, from which she was retired after 36 years of service as Assistant Managing Editor of the peer-reviewed medical research journal Arthritis & Rheumatology. The expanding science and one-on-one contact with the researcher-authors from all over the world — winners of prestigious awards in science and medicine, including 7 Nobel Prize winners — continued to feed her love of learning. She was honored with a lovely note of praise by playwright Arthur Miller, whose article on creativity she had edited for the journal. Tricia was an Anglophile — loved British TV, British literature, and travel to England and Scotland. She counted herself fortunate to have been able to travel there several times and experience the countries firsthand for a month each time. After retirement, she spent her time working on Find a Grave.com as well as her own genealogy. She was thrilled to discover in 2021 her family’s link to the Brig O’Turk area of Scotland and the once-outlawed Clan MacGregor, the most famous member of which was Rob Roy, though he was probably not her direct ancestor. Her body was cremated. There will be a Family Visitation at the Flanigan Funeral Home in Buford, GA on Saturday, July 8th, from 1:00pm to 4:30pm. Inurnment will follow at 5:00pm in Sugar Hill Cemetery. You may honor her life with donations in her memory to Hero Dog Rescue (www.herorescue.org) or any animal rescue group or any music group close to your heart. “No one is finally dead until the ripples they caused in the world die away — until the clock he wound up winds down, until the wine she made has finished its ferment, until the crop they planted is harvested. The span of someone’s life, they say, is only the core of their actual existence.” “We feel the necessity to know that our being alive will produce “ripples” that are connected to the past, exist in the present, and will propagate and touch others in the future. That a part of us will not only be passed on but has always been part of Humanity.” — Sir Terry Pratchett, Reaper Man

Patricia Kay Reichert

December 28, 1952 - June 24, 2023