Patricia Marguerite Fernandes (Patty) of Eliot, Maine, age 79, has passed on to Heaven's Gardens after a strong fight with cancer on September 16, 2022.  Patty was born at the Exeter Hospital on March 20, 1943.

As a single mother in the 1970's she raised two boys. As a teller with a high school education, she rose through the ranks at Indian Head Bank in Exeter, New Hampshire, to become a bank Vice President in later years--before the world told her she could do it. This determined lady did it anyway--and did it Her way.

The one thing Patty always liked more than telling people "how it should be done" was perfecting her amazing gardens. After retiring from banking in 2006, she moved on to gardening and landscaping with Eric's Fernandes and Sons Landscaping until sidelined by her illness. At age 79 she could be seen bringing in firewood and mowing her yard.  Over the years Patty, a lifelong dog-lover, rescued half a dozen dogs from shelters.

Patty is preceded by her parents, Theodore and Eileen Nowak, lifelong residents of Exeter, New Hampshire. She is survived by her older brother Bruce Nowak, his wife Deborah, their children Jeffery and Jennifer; her sons Eric Fernandes and his wife Gail; Jamie Fernandes and his wife Kerry; her grandson Zachary Fernandes and his wife Danielle, great-grandson Dominic Carmine Fernandes; her grandson Lucas Fernandes and his wife Nicole; and her life-long childhood best-friend Kay Mathews.

In lieu of flowers please donate to the Kittery Animal Hospital at 195 State Rd, Kittery, ME 03904, (207) 439-4158, info@ kitteryanimalhospital.com

An open house memorial to celebrate her life will be held at Patty's home in Eliot, Maine, on Saturday, October 1st from 2 - 5 pm for Patty's family, friends, and acquaintances.  She will be dearly missed.

Care for the Fernandes family has been entrusted to the JS Pelkey & Son Funeral Home.