Patricia Catherine Soper DeMayo

Patricia Catherine Soper DeMayo passed away on Tuesday, June 13th. She was born on July 1st, 1943, and grew up on Mulberry Street in Attleboro, Massachusetts. Her parents, John and Margaret, were of English/Irish descent. She had three older siblings, Jack, Bob, and Marcia, and many cousins. At ten, she met Janet Silvestri, who became a lifelong friend.

At thirteen, her life changed when her Mother died, leaving her Dad with four children to raise. They all learned to pitch in and share the cooking and cleaning. As a teenager, she earned money babysitting and cleaning houses. There was a lot of support for the Sopers from family and friends.

After graduating high school (1961), she entered the Henry O. Peabody School of Cosmetology. The nine months of training to be a beautician went by quickly, mingled with her plans to marry Ronald Louis DeMayo the following Fall. She met another lifelong friend there, Judy Faulkner.

She started her first business–a full-service beauty salon–in 1963 when she was twenty. However, because she was still a minor, her husband Ron had to sign all the paperwork for Pat’s Beauty Salon. Pat was a dedicated business owner and a hard worker; she was on her feet tending to a wedding party when she went into labor with her first child. Robert was born a few hours later.

For twelve years, Pat and Ron lived at 133 County Street. The home they purchased had an attached apartment, so Pat moved her business there. During these years, she had two more children: David and Kathleen.

In 1977 they sold their home in Massachusetts and moved to Hollis, New Hampshire. They bought a farm along the Nashua River, where they planted a huge garden and raised cows, chickens, turkeys, and a few pigs. Pat became active in the Hollis Community Club and held the president’s office for two years.

Pat’s first business in New Hampshire was The Art Shoppe, but she eventually closed it to spend a year supporting her husband in starting his company: Diagnostic Medical Systems. She worked as an office manager, bookkeeper, and receptionist until the business was up and running. Eventually, all three of her children would also work for the company.

When she stepped away from D.M.S., Pat obtained her Real Estate license. Pat DeMayo Real Estate became one of the top agencies in Hollis. Then, six years later, as the real-estate boom began to wane, she decided to move on to pursue another dream: Early Childhood Development.

In the summer of 1993, River Edge Day Camp opened and centered its daily activities around animal care, gardening and cooking, fishing, canoeing and nature walks, and arts and crafts. The inclusion of children with special needs was wonderfully successful.

After she closed the River Edge Day Camp, she began her nursery–TLC–which ran for over a dozen years, with countless babies passing through the doors. She and Ron built an addition to their home with a cathedral ceiling and curtained windows. The inside was warm and cozy, with plenty of rocking chairs.

In her fifties and sixties, Pat became a world traveler. She explored twenty countries on five continents. Her travels are so extensive that they deserve their own bio. Many of the things she did, like white-water rafting the Zambezi or ziplining in Costa Rica, are usually reserved for much younger people–but there was no holding Pat back when she was chasing an adventure.

Pat DeMayo was a dreamer throughout her life, and thought her dreams to be connected, one leading to the next. She believed strongly that if a child was encouraged to be serious about what he or she can “dream” about being and doing in life, it allowed them to relax a bit more and enjoy the process with less stress. In bringing up her own family, she encouraged the use of imagination and always spoke of the importance of never letting go of a “dream to be.”

She is survived by her three children: Robert, David and Kathleen; eight grandchildren: Tavish, Saydrin, Martika, Dean, Greg, Sam, Bella and Brittney; and three great-grandchildren, Olivia, Madison and Alcyone. And also by her brother, Robert Soper and his wife, Jan; and many nieces and nephews. Additionally, she is pre-deceased by her brother, Jack Soper, his wife Joan, and her sister, Marcia Legg. Her wake will be at the Smith & Heald Funeral Home, in Milford, on Tuesday, June 27th from 4 to 6.