Patricia D. Philbin Lawrence died unexpectedly of a heart attack on Thursday, June 19. She was 53.

Patty was a graduate of the Clinton High School, class of 1989, and Providence College, class of 1993. She spent a lifetime of summers on the Island and made the move permanently just a few years after college.

She spent many years working for the Martha’s Vineyard Transit Authority and in the restaurant business on the Island, and most recently for the Oak Bluffs Elementary School, where she could be close to her daughter Lila and enjoy the summer beauty of the Island that she loved so much.

Patty was always prepared with an appetizer, a glass of wine and an attentive ear. She shared her time and talents and lived her life dedicated to her family, friends and community.

Among her many passions, she loved to read, play a friendly game of cards or dominoes, but mostly was a devoted mother to Lila enjoying their many special moments together embracing every learning opportunity, and their recent family trip to Disney World. Above all, she was a loving mother, stepmother, wife, daughter, sister, aunt and friend.

She is survived by her beloved husband David Lawrence, her stepson Jacob Lawrence and her daughter Lila Grace Lawrence, all of Oak Bluffs; her mother, Diane Philbin; brothers Michael and Owen Philbin all of Clinton; sisters, Karen Philbin of Lunenburg, and Kathy Chisholm of Newtown, Pa; her nephews, Timothy, Jonathan and Chase; sisters and brothers-in-law, Susan Philbin, Jim Chisholm, Robert Lawrence and Sherylanne Lawrence; extended family and many dear friends both in Clinton and on the Vineyard.

She is pre-deceased by her father Phillip J. Philbin.

A funeral mass will be celebrated at 11 a.m. on Monday, June 30 at St. Augustine’s Church, Franklin street, Vineyard Haven.

A celebration of life will be planned in Clinton later this year.