Patricia Eileen Waites

Patricia Eileen Waites, our beloved mother, grandmother, great grandmother, and great great grandmother passed away in hospice on February 24, 2026 at the age of 92.

Patricia Eileen Waites is preceded in death by her husband (Jack Waites), two brothers (Thomas and Francis McMahon), one sister (Donna Youngs), and her son (Michael J. Smith). She is survived by her sister (Carol Ridle), her children, John T. Smith Jr. (Sherry), Patricia McKelvey, Laura Harwell, and Jason Smith (Kim), her grandchildren, Jennie Dawson (Shane), Russell McKelvey IV (AnnMarie), Ryan Smith (Sarah), Laura McKelvey (Harriet), Eamonn Smith, Aidann Smith, and Iann Smith, nine great grandchildren, and one great great grandchild.

Funeral Mass will be held at 2:00 P.M.  Monday, March 2, 2026 at Prince of Peace Catholic Church in Flowery Branch, Georgia. The family will receive friends from 1:00 to 2:00 P.M. prior to the mass at the church. The burial service will be held on March 3 at 11:00 AM at Fairview Memorial Gardens in Stockbridge, Georgia.

Patricia Waites was an independent, strong-willed woman with a sharp intellect. A depression era baby, she was born in 1933 in River Rouge, Michigan, on Halloween, but grew up in Western Pennsylvania and Wheeling, West Virginia. 

She was a survivor whose father once said she was tough as nails. Alternately raised between parents, aunts and children’s homes during the Great Depression, the war rationing years, and the Doris Day years, she ultimately forged her own path in life. And books were her salvation. She taught herself to read by sounding out words from the newspaper to her Aunt Nell. Her Aunt Jo took her to work in the home of a wealthy family whose books opened up new worlds to her. And although she dropped out of high school, she made up for it later by earning a history degree and ultimately a masters in social work.

She loved the unexpected heroes in her life, such as her scandalous Aunt Mary, who took her and her brothers in while hiding the fact from her husband. She said she owed Aunt Mary a debt of gratitude, and she should be nominated for sainthood despite Aunt Mary’s notoriety in other respects. 

In the unconventional assortment of characters who she encountered in her formative years, she learned to see the good in people that others might cast aside. Much later, after settling with her family in Georgia, she worked part-time as a librarian, started working towards her history degree, took in stray dogs, cats, and sometimes people, and eventually settled on a career in social work.

Her youngest son says that when he thinks deeply about her, he thinks about the sacrifices she made for family, such as working six days a week when he was young and missing opportunities for other life experiences. She told him she was always a tremendous dreamer, and he believes that’s why she loved to read so much. It gave her the opportunity to experience those dreams without having to go anywhere. He believes her love and pride of family gave her the strength to make those sacrifices. Yet she never needed any recognition for her contributions. Like her Aunt Mary before her, she was fiercely loyal to her children and grandchildren.

And she fired her children’s imaginations, too, who carried on her love of reading and learning, and in some cases, an unconventional approach to work and life. If someone complained of boredom, she said there was no such thing as being bored, just boring people. In fact, her youngest son’s first word was “books.” She brought her library with her wherever she moved, history, biographies, great literature, and art. And at 92, she still slept with her books, piled beside her on the bed. Try to take some away and she’d say, “I’m still reading those.”

Her unexpected zingers startled and delighted her grandchildren, such as when she was told she needed hearing aids. She’d smile mischievously and say, “What makes you think I want to hear what you have to say.”  

She was blunt and stubborn, particularly with age, but we loved her unique and understated wit, her creative expressions, and her ability to keep us all together. She wrestled us into submission to her strong will. And we will miss her more than we can possibly say.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Derrick Johnson's Defend the Dream Foundation. 

Memorial Park South Funeral Home, 4121 Falcon Parkway Flowery Branch, GA 30542 is in charge of arrangements. Send online condolences to www.memorialparkfuneralhomes.com.

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