Mary Patricia (Pat) H. Rahn

Mary Patricia (Pat) H. Rahn passed away peacefully at home on March 6, 2026, surrounded by her children. Born on the south side of Chicago on June 15, 1934, she graduated from Loretto Academy in 1952 and went on to earn a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and Registered Nurse degree from St. Xavier College for Women in 1956, supported by a scholarship from the Pullman Foundation.

Early in her college years, Pat met her future husband, Robert (Bob) William Rahn, at a dance party. They married in Chicago on October 27, 1956. She worked at Illinois Central Hospital until 1957, when she moved with Bob to Edina, Minnesota. There she raised six children in seven years while working weekends as a nurse and staying active in the PTO. Her children remember her as a joyful presence in the kitchen, dancing to favorite songs while managing the household with warmth and energy during Bob’s evening law studies.

In 1965, the family moved to West Hartford, Connecticut, when Bob took a position with Aetna and later The Hartford. Pat embraced her new community with characteristic vigor, becoming involved in the League of Women Voters, book groups, bridge, and tennis while supporting her children’s education. When her youngest daughter was twelve, she began working as a school nurse at Conard High School. She later earned a Nurse Practitioner degree from Hartford Hospital and, at age fifty, completed a Master’s in Psychiatric Nursing at Yale. She served as a Psychiatric Liaison Nurse at Hartford Hospital, became active in the Connecticut Society of Nurse Psychotherapists, and advocated for expanded nursing practice in the state. She concluded her career with a successful private practice.

Pat was predeceased by her husband Bob, who died on October 29, 2000, her parents Hugh and Katherine (Doyle) Hanlon, and all her siblings. She is survived by her children—daughters Renis (Kim) of Denmark and Portugal, Rebecca of West Hartford, Connecticut, and Rachel of Springfield, Massachusetts; sons David (Susan) of Chico, California, Greg (Patricia) of American Canyon, California, and Paul (Diane) of Nelson, Minnesota—as well as seven grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. She is also survived by several nieces and nephews, including her special niece Terrie and her husband Kevin.