Living Treasure
Pat was born on 22 December 1928 in Launceston, Tasmania and christened Beverley Patricia.
While her mother, Gladys Victoria, stayed at home to care for Pat and her older brother Geoff, her father Leslie Green was employed as the paymaster for the Hydro Electric Commission.
Pat attended kindergarten, primary and secondary school at Methodist Ladies College in Launceston. Leaving school at 17, Pat went to work for her
uncle, who was an accountant.
Two years later, she was employed as a private secretary for the Managing Director of L. Fairthorn & Son where she stayed until she was 23.
In 1952 Pat met William Dow in Queensland and after a whirlwind romance they became engaged. Bill was awarded a Fellowship to further his bacteriological studies in England. Pat followed him there and they were married in December 1952. On their return to Australia they lived in Canberra, Darwin, Sydney, Cairns and Melbourne. Bill's offer of a new job with Heinz brought Pat to Dandenong in 1959.
With three young boys, Pat started to raise money for the kindergarten, Foster Street Primary School and Dandenong High School. In 1960, Pat joined Beta Sigma Phi, a group of women dedicated to community service.
The Dandenong Hospital Auxiliary was part of Pat’s volunteer work for 37 years. Pat has also spent over thirty years collecting for the Red Cross. It is when Pat spoke about raising money to build the 12th Dandenong North Scout Hall, that her eyes lit up with a special twinkle. It took the Scouting parents ten years but, in 1972, on land donated by the former Dandenong Council, the hall was opened in McFees Road.
For thirty years, Pat was an active supporter of the Dandenong Festival of Music and Art for Youth, fulfilling her own passion for singing by joining the Dandenong Choral Society in 1985. The singers performed at two large concerts in the Town Hall each year, in addition to entertaining the elderly citizens in nursing homes and retirement villages.
Pat was also involved in delivering meals on wheels to the elderly for over 30 years; Pat dedicated herself to the City of Greater Dandenong for over forty years, weaving her gentle and selfless personality through the lives of so many people. “Always happy in the kitchen making the Sangers ". Pat echoed the philosophy of every volunteer when she says, “I didn't have the money to give, but I had the time.”