Patricia Hines Jenkins

Patricia Hines Jenkins, a long-time schoolteacher and member of the Van Wert community, passed away Saturday, July 4, 2020, at State of the Heart Care Hospice in Greenville.  She was 93.  

Pat was the daughter of Howard and Edna Catherine (Sunderman) Hines and the sister of Richard F. Hines.  

Pat worked in the Hines and Son drugstore on Main Street until she began her teaching career. She graduated from Van Wert High School in 1945 and obtained a degree in elementary education from the Ohio State University in the spring of 1949. Pat returned to Van Wert and began her teaching career as a kindergarten teacher in the fall of 1949 at Horace Mann School. She taught various elementary grades in the Van Wert City School District until 1962, when she joined the elementary school faculty at St. Mary’s School. Pat taught at St. Mary’s until 1971, when she left to become a teacher at the newly-created Thomas Edison School.  

At that time, educational and vocational curriculums for developmentally disabled children and adults were not well established or standardized, so she and her colleagues built and refined creative programs that optimized the capabilities of Thomas Edison students. Pat continued to teach and support Thomas Edison programs until the early 1990s, when she retired to assume full-time care of her daughter, Mary Catherine, who had been a student at Thomas Edison.

Pat was an active member of the Van Wert Woman’s Club and St. Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church in Van Wert, holding various leadership positions in both organizations. She and her husband, Glen, were active Van Wert sports boosters and supported the arts. 

Pat married Glen Jenkins in 1950 and had five children, Robin (Jeff) of Bethesda Maryland, Christie (Gary) of Lorton, Virginia, Howard (Mary) of Okeana, and Patrick (Linda) of Bethel. Mary Catherine preceded her in death in 2017. She was the proud grandparent of six grandchildren, Sean, Elizabeth, Kevin, Max, Ryan, and Grace, and one great-grandchild, Abigail.

A Mass of Christian Burial and interment will be celebrated at a later date to facilitate the attendance of family and friends after the COVID risk subsides. The family will post a public notice when it determines a day and time for the funeral.  

Preferred memorials may be made to the Thomas Edison School or St. Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church.  

Brickner Funeral Home is assisting the family with arrangements

Condolences may expressed at www.bricknerfuneralhome.com or emailed to bricknerfuneralhome@bright.net.