Patricia M. Hester

Patricia M. Hester of Flemington, NJ passed away on May 3, 2022, at the age of 75. Pat lived in Flemington for 44 years with her husband, Tom Hester, and raised their four children there. The couple observed their 54th wedding anniversary on April 27. Born in New York City, Pat was raised in Hell's Kitchen, the historic neighborhood on Manhattan's West Side where her close-knit Irish-American family can trace its settlement there to the 1880s. In the 1980s, Pat managed Carolina Gifts in Flemington's Liberty Village, where she made the business the most profitable shop in the company's national chain. In her first position after completing secretarial school in the 1960s, Pat was a civilian secretary at the old 3rd Coast Guard District Headquarters at the Custom House and on Governor's Island in New York City. Pat is a graduate of the Academy of the Sacred Heart of Mary in Manhattan. It was in a Custom House elevator where Pat and Tom, who was serving as a Coast Guard journalist, first saw each other. The couple married in Manhattan in 1968. Pat was always pleased that they found Flemington as the place to raise their family. During the 1980s, Pat was also active in the American support of the Catholic civil rights movement in Northern Ireland. Pat is the daughter of the late Katherine and Patrick Gaynor of New York City. Besides her husband, Pat is survived by their children, Mary Patricia Detwiller of Newport, NC; Thomas J. Hester Jr. of Lawrence, NJ; Katherine A. Hester of Jersey City, NJ; and Timothy P. Hester of Flemington, NJ; her sister Maura Gaynor of New York City; her son-in-law Craig Detwiller; her daughter-in-law Theresa Daniels-Hester; and grandchildren Catherine, Case and Conor Detwiller; and Erin and Madeline Hester. The Hester family offers a special thank you to the staff of the Flemington-Raritan Rescue Squad who frequently played a role in Pat's health care. Pat's funeral was private. Her care was provided by the Holcombe-Fisher Funeral Home, 147 Main Street, Flemington, NJ 08822. For further information or to send an online condolence to her family, please visit Pat’s Tribute Wall at www.holcombefisher.com.