Patricia Craig Vang

Born in 1932 in Mayfield, Fulton County, New York, she was the daughter of Frank Craig and Alice Gifford Craig. Raised in the foothills of the Adirondacks, she carried with her throughout life the resilience, practicality, and independence of her upstate New York beginnings.

She trained as a Registered Nurse at the Amsterdam City Hospital School of Nursing in Amsterdam, NY and began a career in nursing and nursing management that would span over 40 years. She worked in hospitals in New York, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, New York, finishing her career at Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital.

Throughout her career, she cared for patients through many changes in medicine while remaining constant in what mattered most: skill, attentiveness, sound judgement, and respect for the person in her care. Colleagues valued her experience, skills and knowledge, and generations of patients knew the reassurance of her capable presence.

Nursing was not simply her occupation; it expressed something essential about who she was. For decades, when people were ill, frightened, or vulnerable, she was among those who showed up and knew what to do. Her family takes enduring pride in the many lives she touched through that work.

She moved to Virginia Beach in the early 1980s and made it her home, while never losing her connection to Mayfield and the Adirondacks. Away from nursing, she enjoyed reading, attending church and volunteering for community activities that helped the less fortunate.

She is survived by two sons, Mark Vang, her caretaker in the later years, and Kevin Vang who are both very grateful to have had such an inspirational, devoted and caring mother.

Her family will remember her with love and gratitude - for the life she built, for the care she gave so freely, and for the steady presence she was in their lives.