Patricia Lee Howarth

Patricia Lee Howarth, 77, passed away peacefully in her sleep on June 12 at her home in La Follette, Tennessee. Born and raised in Scituate, Rhode Island, she was the town’s Animal Control Officer for decades. She buzzed about to every corner of the town to pull snakes out of walls and put dogs in prison. Just kidding, she brought most of them home. Raising an orphaned raccoon is a gray area in the law. She leaves behind her sister, Cheryl Marsh, brother, Walter Andrews, and four children, Barbara Yeaw, Robert Pero, Michael Howarth, and Matthew Howarth, along with a raucous horde of grandchildren and great-grandchildren — plus her final flea market impulse purchase, a beagle puppy named Lucas, the custody of whom will be the center of family legal battles for perhaps the next two decades. She loved all animals and some people. She loved yard sales and flea markets, Necco Wafers, and homemade iced coffee sipped for hours until it became room-temp coffee. Still good, leave it. She loved animal print t-shirts and old warm hats. She was fluent in dry wit and sarcasm and passed both down to her children as sacred traditions. She loved a no-fuss pace to life — unless the fuss was worth it, then, watch out, here comes the fuss. She loved God and the Smoky Mountains. She was exactly the kind of person you’d want between you and a dangerous animal. She’d figure it out. Courageous, compassionate, twinkle in the eye, snare pole in hand. The number of creatures she rescued and people she helped is incalculable. Her good works were many, but her hope was in Jesus Christ. She was funny. Her laugh was singular and memorable, most of the time trailing off with the same “...ahh dear” at the end. She found great joy in her family. She loved simple games and just hanging out ... wait, where’d she go? Probably out at the barn. Patricia Howarth was an original, one in a million. All who knew her were blessed. She is deeply loved and deeply missed ... until we meet again in the green pastures of Heaven. Visitation will be held on Saturday, June 27, 2026, from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM at Winfield & Sons Funeral Home, located at 571 West Greenville Avenue (Route 116), Scituate, RI 02857. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to Friends of Scituate Animal Shelter at https://scituatefriends.com/

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Patricia Lee Howarth

June 12, 2026