Patricia Ann Knudsen GRAY – Patricia Ann Knudsen, beloved family matriarch, dedicated volunteer and career woman, and intrepid world traveler, died peacefully at home in Gray on May 27, 2024 at the age of 93. Pat was truly a woman for the ages. Strong, independent, and resourceful.
Beautiful, classy, and statuesque. Handy with tools and home repairs, as well as an accomplished seamstress and knitter. Born in 1931 in Grafton, W.
Va. to Hubert “Shorty” and Eva (Colebank) Custer, Pat also spent memorable childhood years in Maryland and Delaware. She graduated from Newark High School in 1948.
In 1963, she married David Knudsen who she met while working at Eastern Air Devices in Dover, N.H. Together, they raised two children and shared a remarkable 58-year partnership.
They were the best of teammates in life, house and boat projects, and supporting each other’s endeavors. Some of their happiest years were spent living in Northfield, Vt. in the 1960s and ’70s where David was a Professor of Electrical Engineering at Norwich University and Pat was an active faculty wife and community volunteer.
Pat’s long career as a certified travel agent enabled her to indulge in her love of travel. She worked initially at McPherson Travel and Milne Travel in Vermont, then with Astro Travel in Solon, Ohio. In 1988 she and David moved to Maine where she was manager for the AAA office in South Portland for 22 years – retiring at the age of 79.
She travelled to every continent except Anta.