Patricia Mearns former Mayor and Councilwoman of Shaker Heights passed away on August 12. She was born Patricia Louise Simonson in Brooklyn, New York in 1932. Her mother was a homemaker and her father was a textiles salesman who shared Pat's sociability. She married Ted Mearns when she was 19 years old. Both were only children and attributed that to having such a large family of their own. Ted moved his growing family from a U.S. Navy base in Naples to the University of Virginia to the University of Cincinnati, where he became dean of law. A civil rights expert, he joined Case Western Reserve University and moved his family to Shaker Heights. He later became CWRU's vice president before retiring in 1998. Pat somehow made time to serve many civic groups and run the Shaker Heights Parent Teacher Association. In 1982, she ran for an opening on Shaker City Council, despite never having attended its meetings. She won the seat and kept it through some of the suburb's stormiest years. Pat had only an associate's degree in business and a few youthful months of work experience before joining a City Hall dominated by pedigreed professionals. She said she learned to lead mostly by volunteering in civic groups and raising nine children. In 1991 Mearns became Mayor of Shaker Heights and served for two terms. She impressed people with her patience, energy, ready ear and kind words. Former council members said of Mearns "she always had a particularly keen ability to involve members of the community, to make people feel good about themselves, to make residents feel that the government was indeed a reflection of them" Peter Lawson Jones, "she had a gift for engaging people", "that quality made her a well-liked and very effective ambassador for the city" Judy Rawson. Pat said during her term as Mayor "I try to build consensus when I can. Sometimes it's better to be pushing from behind" She decided not to run a third term so she could spend more time with her family and travel with Ted. She will be greatly missed by her family and friends and the community she served. (Excerpts from The Plain Dealer Sunday June 13, 1999 "Shaker's mayor mom" article)

Patricia S. Mearns (nee Simonson) was a former Mayor of Shaker Heights. She was the beloved wife of Edward A. "Ted" Mearns, Jr. of Shaker Hts., OH. Loving mother of Edward A. "Drew" Mearns, III (Kate), Susan Duquette (Tom), Leslie Quinones (Vic), Alison Benders (Larry), Geoffrey Simonson Mearns (Jennifer), Kathleen Mearns (Tom), Tracey Frierson (Eddie), Patricia Shea (Dan) and Evan Carbonell (Alfredo). Grandmother of 31 and great –grandmother of 1. Beloved daughter of the late Louise (nee Gehring) and Eugene Simonson.

Published in The Plain Dealer from August 14 to August 16, 2012