Patricia N. Sonnenschein, a Malibu resident of 47 years, died March 17. She was 85.
Sonnenschein was born in New York, N.Y. on April 20, 1925 to George and Margaret Niddrie. She attended Radcliffe College in Cambridge, Mass., which is now an extension of Harvard University.
After graduating from college in 1946, Sonnenschein moved to California. She was working as a secretary in the department of psychology at the UCLA School of Medicine when she met her future husband, Ralph, who was a professor at the school. The pair wed in 1952, traveling and living in Sweden and England for a number of years afterward.
Sonnenschein’s hobbies included stained glass, knitting, embroidery and gardening. She also volunteered numerous hours as a garden docent at the Malibu Lagoon Museum and served on the Admissions Selection Committee for Harvard/Radcliffe.
Sonnenschein is survived by her husband Ralph, her son David Sonnenschein, her daughters Lisa Branch and Ann Beard, their spouses Abby Sonnenschein, Gary Branch and Kevin Beard, her eight grand-children, two step-grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
Plans for a memorial service are pending.