Patricia Lavelle Raines

Surrounded by her adoring family, Patricia Lavelle Raines, 94 years young, passed on peacefully in her home in Daphne, Alabama, on February 26th. Pat was raised by loving Irish Catholic parents, Floyd and Therese Lavelle, in Fargo North Dakota, where she developed a profoundly deep faith in God that guided her throughout her life. Pat married John Morrison Raines Jr., of Little Rock, in 1946. They lived primarily in Little Rock during their almost 50 years of marriage. Pat graduated from the College of Saint Benedict in Minnesota and later received her Master of Science in Nutrition from North Dakota State University. She worked as a nutritionist at the Arkansas Department of Health and served for a time as Director of Nutrition. She was instrumental in establishing the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) for the State of Arkansas. Her dedication to her career, while raising four children, was a testament to her strength and unbending faith. Pat was preceded in death by her husband, John Morrison Raines Jr. She is survived by her brother, George Lavelle, sister-in-law Mary Lavelle; son, Jack Raines; daughters, Ruth Eudy, Patricia Williams and Mary Elizabeth Raines; son-in-law, Grady Williams; daughter-in-law, Monique Bearden Raines; 10 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Her funeral took place at Christ the King Catholic Church in Daphne, Alabama on Saturday, March 1st. A graveside service will be held at Roselawn Memorial Park in Little Rock, Arkansas on Saturday, March 8th, at 1 p.m.