Patricia R. Adson, Ph.D.
Patricia R. Adson, Ph.D., a writer, coach, psychologist, crossword-enthusiast, avid reader and lover of poetry, and beloved mother and grandmother, passed away peacefully at the age of 91 on October 1, 2020. Pat’s depth of wisdom, regularly sought out and scrupulously humble, was well-earned and well-worn through the many chapters of her remarkable life, and her absence is felt keenly by all who knew her.
Patricia Anne Richardson was born May 1, 1929 in Chester, Pennsylvania, to mother Dorothy Stephens and father Frederick Charles Miller Richardson. She graduated from Glen Nor High School in 1947 and enrolled at Ursinus College. In 1951 she married Murray Silverstein and with him had five children: Andy, Judy, Ted, Jay, and Jennifer. Following her divorce in 1978, Pat enrolled in a Ph.D. program in Education Psychology and Family Therapy at the University of Minneapolis, and in 1983, she married Dr. Martin Adson.
Pat’s lifelong dedication to learning took her from psychology to the emerging field of coaching, and she received her coach certification through the Hudson Institute of Coaching in 2000. She was the author of three books: Finding Your Own True North and Helping Others Find Direction in Life (1999), A Princess & Her Garden: A Fable of Awakening & Arrival (1999, 2011), and Depth Coaching: Discovering Archetypes for Empowerment, Growth, and Balance (2004).
Following Martin’s death in 2011, Pat moved to Casa Dorinda, a retirement community in Santa Barbara. Retirement, however, was never part of Pat’s plan. Though she struggled with ongoing health challenges, Pat worked as a mentor coach for coaches-in-training, and engaged in coach supervision, in addition to forming a mindfulness group and serving on a number of committees at Casa Dorinda.
Pat’s fiercest legacy was her adamance that the answers we seek already exist inside each of us, and she shared her wisdom not as a cure for what ails us but as an invitation to trust in our own inexhaustible inner resources. In this respect, her voice lives on in all who knew her and carry forward her message of courage, grace, and resilience.
In death, she joins her husband, Martin Adson; her sons, Andy and Ted Silverstein; and her stepchildren, Martin H. and Lori Adson Trudell. She will be deeply missed by those she leaves behind, including her children, Dr. Judith Currier (Jesse), Jay Silverstein (Jennifer), and Jennifer Reitz (Brent); her grandchildren Andy Currier, Evyn and Miles Van Homer, and Grant, Noah, and Mason Silverstein; her stepchildren Dr. David Adson (Meg), Lucy Klettenberg, and Amy Adson, and grandchildren Bele and Nicholas Adson, Teresa Klettenberg, and Amber Ronning; and her brother, Frederick Richardson.
A virtual memorial is scheduled for 11/1/2020 at 1pm PST.