Obituary for Patricia Anne Riley Patricia Ann Riley (‘Pat’) died peacefully in her Mount Pleasant home under Hospice care on September 17, 2018, after a long and brave struggle with cancer. She is survived by her loving husband Steve Bogen and her beloved Cairn terriers Mick and Spock. Pat was born in in Marlborough, Massachusetts on June 12, 1944 to Robert Bacon Riley and Frances Margaret Tarrant.
She attended Marion High School in Framingham, Massachusetts and graduated from the Catherine Laboure School of Nursing in Boston. She began her professional career as a registered nurse and joined the United States Air Force as a flight nurse. She served three years of active duty during the Vietnam conflict, nursing wounded soldiers.
She spent five years in the Air Force Reserve, achieved the rank of Captain, and was discharged with a medical disability for PTSD. After she left the Air Force, she began her second career. She attended Georgia State University and earned a Bachelor’s degree in health care administration.
She earned an MBA in strategic management from Babson College. Pat was a Massachusetts Department of Public Health facility inspector, inspecting hospitals and nursing home to verify compliance with Medicare and Medicaid standards. She joined Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Massachusetts, rising to Assistant Vice President before her retirement.
She married the late Richard Anthony Oneto. Richard was a United States Navy fighter pilot and Pat traveled to many interesting places around the world as she followed Richard to his various assignments. Pat was a skilled and avid sailor who enjoyed sailing in Boston Harbor.
She enjoyed acquiring and driving sports cars. Her last one was a Honda S2000. Pat was very proud of her heritage and was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, celebrating her ancestor who fought in the Battle of Bunker Hill.
Pat met Steve in 2010 and fell in love. They emigrated to Charleston to have a better chance of obtaining a kidney transplant for her, which she desperately needed. She received a kidney transplant at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) in Mount Pleasant in 2012 and married Steve the same year.
Pat will be forever remembered by a large cadre of dear friends, neighbors, and young people she mentored. She will be remembered for her compassion for others and belief that all humans are equal, her insufference of fools, her focus and assertiveness, and for her word being an unbreakable bond. She will also be remembered for her passion for sailboats, sports cars, Star Trek, all things Klingon, and the Rolling Stones.
She passed away with her bucket list complete. All along, she was extraordinarily proud of her Irish Heritage (her ancestors came from Galway) and wanted to share with those she left behind a parting wish of one of her favorite verses from The Parting Glass: Of all the comrades that e’er I’ve had They’re sorry for my going away And all the sweethearts that e’er I’ve had They’d wish me one more day to stay But since it fell unto my lot That I should rise and you should not I gently rise and I’ll softly call Good night and joy be with you all Arrangements in care of Charleston Cremation Center and Funeral Home. To send flowers or a memorial gift to the family of Patricia Anne Riley please visit our Sympathy Store.
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