I first met my friend Pat when we were teenaged Candy Stripers at The Children's Hospital. Our paths crossed again when we both began our nursing careers at Children's. 

In 1984, the High Cotton Cloggers, of which Gayle was a treasured and lively member, had a retreat at the old Pelham place in Destin, hosted by the wild and crazy Gayle Pelham.  To my surprise, his new and cultured girlfriend Pat was introduced to our group. She managed to tame him, somewhat, through the years. What a wonderful match they were!

Our friendship continued through the years. Pat was a brilliant, inspirational, passionate, and wonderful spirit and we are all so very much richer for having known her and had her in our lives.

Jennifer Davis

It's hard to boil down my 38 years of memories of Pat into a few stories.  She knew me before I was born, and one of my first memories, from when I was about 3, is of Pat when she was pregnant with A.G. (She asked me if I wanted to feel her tummy--maybe A.G. was kicking!). Though the memory is faint, I have an impression of Pat's gentle and maternal energy in that moment. 

I remember so many wonderful trips to the beach with the Pelhams and Widmans. One random memory that swims to the surface is that Pat seemed very well-read and well-informed about current events. She would sit on the screen porch with a news magazine in hand and want to talk to the other grownups about the big topics of the day. I wished I was a grownup so that I could be part of it! 

Pat had a remarkable combination of Southern sweetness and feistiness. She was one of the most genuinely sweet people I've ever known, but she also wasn't shy about sharing her opinions or annoyances with her loved ones. That seemed like a pretty unusual and special mixture to me when I was little, and it strikes me even more now: she was genuinely sweet, but also genuinely strong. She had informed opinions and a strong moral compass, as I'm reminded by reading her incredible list of accomplishments. 

I remember how hard Pat worked when she went back to school at Vanderbilt in her 40s or 50s, while also being a mother and juggling commitments that I probably didn't even know about at the time. She suffered from severe sleep deprivation and other challenges. Though my impression at the time was of how hard it was, I'm now in awe of how she nonetheless did it. My scattered memories of Pat are now cohering into a picture of a person who cared deeply for other people and had incredible grit. That is a combination that I hope to carry with me. In a sense, that was her gift to all who knew her.

Hello all. Am from Kenya. Mrs and Mr Pelham, gave me hope by giving me a chance through high school. All my life I had served in the Presbyterian church helping young kids realise their dreams, but after high school, my single and cancer ailing mum sold all our summer harvest and with only 100 dollars I enrolled In Presbyterian university. That amount was not even a quarter of what was required. I studied for a month and was discontinued because of lack of school fees.

I went back to church and continued serving, one day after preparing the women's guild perform a play, an elderly man by the name Samuel approached me and told me someone wanted to bless my life too..... To cut the story short, up to today I do not know how I ended up in daystar and even graduating is a miracle. 

If you do not know Pat please read her story and you will understand wat humility is. This family is a community changer. Not for fame, not for anything but for humanity sake. 

Their son who is my brother continues to fundraise on his birthdays to create awareness of the disease. Imagine he prefer instead of celebrating cutting cakes, he prefers putting a smile on others. 

Dad, Gayle Pelham even will one kneel that causes him so much discomfort he prefers traveling here and there to be a blessing. 

I am sure mother Teresa is embracing our mum in heaven. Till we meet again mum. We hold your memories with us. Say hi to my son in heaven. I will strive to be a blessing through your example and with outmost humility.