YOBC Board of Directors

Remembering Dr. Patricia Tanis Sydney

By Joseph Hochreiter, YOBC Board member

I had the honor of recruiting and working with Dr. Patricia Tanis (Pat) Sydney as a member of YOBC’s Board of Directors. We learned recently of Pat’s passing, and I’d like to reflect on the value she brought to our organization. I first got to know Pat when she would host impressive house-concert fundraisers for another non-profit organization, the Human Growth Center (now The Counseling Center of Bucks County), during a period when I served on their board. She was a professor of Art History at three colleges, including Bucks County Community College. Her daughters, Eliza (harp) and Johanna (oboe) were students at YOBC and this connection sparked her love for YOBC and the work that we do in teaching classical music.

When we formed YOBC’s first formal Board of Directors in 2005, I asked Pat whether she would have interest in serving on our Board. Her initial reticence stemmed from a personal challenge – she had suffered a debilitating stroke. After waiting a period for her to begin recovery through therapy, Eileen and I offered to drive her to our board meetings, and Pat began her several-year tenure on our board. Pat led a committee that designed the YOBC logo and branding that we currently use, and she served as a consultant to our first tour of Italy wherein she lectured the tour members on the architectural and artistic gems that we were about to see. Pat remained a valuable contributor of ideas on the organization’s growth, often shared when we were driving to or from a meeting. Despite the stroke, I will remember Pat for the quality of her ideas and her willingness to share them for the benefit of YOBC. 

I will also remember one other thing: her tenacity in confronting and overcoming the impacts of her stroke. Over the course of a couple of years, we saw her recovery progress through the hard work she dedicated to her therapy. She served as a mentor for me in how to face and overcome a debilitating illness, and how to do it with grace and resilience. I and the rest of her YOBC family will sorely miss our good friend. 

You can visit lifecelebration.com and see her obituary, wherein her family asked that donations in Pat’s memory be directed to YOBC.