A staff member of Elon's Environmental Services, Patrick is remembered for her compassion, faith and commitment to caring for others
Family, friends and colleagues of Angel Patrick gathered Thursday, Feb. 19, for the dedication of a memorial bench in her name outside the Elon University Carlton Building.
Patrick, affectionately known as “Fuzzie,” worked in Environmental Services for five years, primarily in the Gerald Francis Center and the Carlton Building, and was also an associate minister at Red Hill Missionary Baptist Church in Pelham, North Carolina. She left the university in the spring of 2022 due to illness and died the same year.
Rev. Kirstin Boswell, university chaplain and dean of multifaith engagement, led the dedication.
“The relationships that she built with her coworkers, with students, with faculty, with staff, were genuine, were warm and were woven through with kindness and with joy,” said Boswell. “I’ve been told that Angel was a woman of deep love. She was loving, she was compassionate, she was God-fearing, and she was grounded in a spirit that made people feel safe, made them feel welcomed and made them feel seen.”
Members of Patrick’s family attended the dedication ceremony, including her husband and older sister Sharon Holloway, who thanked the university for the memorial.
“We will always be indebted to you all. The life she lived in front of you all is what she lived. That’s what we knew her by. Her smile, her cooking, taking in people’s kids, just doing whatever she could for anybody. Always having an encouraging word,” said Holloway during the dedication. “We miss her to no end. Our life changed when she left, but because we know a man called Jesus, he can be your mother, he can be your sister. When you think you can’t make it, sometimes we felt that way, but because we know him, because I know him personally, I know the memory will always stay in mind, our minds and in our hearts.”
Elon continues to honor the memory of staff and faculty members with benches throughout campus, including David Willis, plumbing supervisor, and Monte Markley, community service officer, in 2025.