Leah Rae Patterson, 26, formerly of Radford, passed away on Tuesday, May 2, 2023.
The family will receive friends from 2 – 4 p.m. on Saturday, May 13, 2023, at the Community Life Church at the Norwood Room. A celebration of life will begin at 4 p.m. In lieu of flowers, the family wishes donations be made to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, PO Box 37920, Boone IA 50037-0920.
Leah died living. As her friend and coworker Kerith said, “Leah LIVED. She took full advantage of every morsel that life has to offer.” To know Leah was to love Leah. She knew how to love well with abandon and unconditionally. She was a champion for the underdog and stood up for her beliefs in her #BigStrongGirl style. There would be few to say they were not touched by her light. The joy and unabashed fervor for living life to the fullest and the importance of staying in the moment was her style. She believed in being fully present for each person she was with. #LeahRaeofSun was a sunbeam to everyone. The world is now a dimmer place without her, but the legacy of loving large and hard on every person we are blessed to meet can easily be the lesson of her life.
Leah created family wherever she went. Her loss is grieved by so many friends and family. To carry on without her are her best friend in the world, her dog, Fern; her parents, Mark and Blenna Patterson; her brother, Ryan Patterson; her partner, Andrew Hopkins; her grandmother, Nancy Curl; aunts and uncles, Chip and Marywood Sparks, Chuck and Becki Patterson, and Ruthie and David Martin; her best girlfriends and previous roommates, Paige Williams, Maggi Weiseman, Indigo Ludwig, Callie Friedberg, Lindi Smith and Carly Mannon; all of her coworkers at @TequilaandDeadliftsGym, @RiversideOutfittersRVA, @FarFlungAdventures, and @Angel_Fire_Resort; many, many other family members and friends; and every single person who was blessed to be in the presence of her “rae” of sun.
Welcome home child, you lived and loved well.
The Patterson family is in the care of Mullins Funeral Home and Crematory in Radford.
