Patricia Rhodes Norsworthy

Patricia Rhodes Norsworthy was born June 21, 1954 in Columbia, South Carolina. She died April 18, 2020 in Abilene, Texas at the age of 65 years. She is preceded in death by her father, Robert Rhodes, and her younger brother, John Mark Rhodes.

In 1971, at the age of sixteen, she graduated from Hayfield Secondary School in Alexandria, Virginia. She declined a field hockey scholarship at Mary Washington College to move to West Texas to attend Abilene Christian College, where she met Larry Norsworthy, who she married on April 3, 1972.

They spent their first summer together while working as counselors at Camp Wamava in Front Royal, Virginia. After a brief return to Texas, they moved to Washington, DC in 1973 to work at the 16th and Decatur Church of Christ. There she taught pre-K in a school of 125 children while she earned six hours of graduate credits in early childhood education.

Then she and Larry moved back to Abilene where she supported Larry’s pursuit of a graduate degree by doing floral designing and working in a textile mill. After Larry received his master's degree in Psychology they moved to King of Prussia where she worked for five years as the Administrative Assistant to the President of Northeastern Christian Junior College.

In 1980, she gave birth to her first son, Joshua Rhodes Norsworthy, and then in 1981 she delivered her second son, Luke Austin Norsworthy.

While raising her toddler sons she worked as a bookkeeper for an inner-city camp, Camp Shiloh, in New York City. In the early 1980s she worked out of her house as a seamstress with one of her gowns being worn to Ronald Reagan's inaugural ball. In 1986, she began working at Coventry Christian School where she served in roles ranging from music teacher to school board member. In addition to being a traditional homemaker, she also was the architect and general contractor for her first home in Pennsylvania, a major addition to her home in Ohio, and her parents' home in Ohio.

In 1992, she began working in the campaign for Federal Congressional Office. The family moved to the Ohio Valley in 1993. In 1998 both of her sons started college, and she graduated with a degree in business from Ohio Valley University.

In 1999, she and Larry moved back to Abilene where he accepted a Professorship and Associate Chair position in the Psychology department at Abilene Christian University. While there she was involved with Southern Hills Church of Christ where she was a caregiver to members of the congregation and supported the needs of her father during his battle with cancer. During her own medical struggles she was known for her intense effort to save her best energy for her loved ones where she was a perpetual source of positivity and encouragement.

Her first grandson, Gage, was born in 2002; he was followed by her second, Griffin, in 2005. Three granddaughters, Avery (2008), Adalyn (2011), and Audrey, (2014) followed.

Trisha, as she preferred to be called, is survived by her husband of 48 years, Larry A. Norsworthy, her mother, Margaret Rhodes-Stover, and brothers Sam and Tom Rhodes. She is also survived by her sons, Joshua and Luke, daughters-in-law, Alicia and Lindsay, and grandchildren Gage, Griffin, Avery, Adalyn, and Audrey.06