Patricia Anne Urevick, an acclaimed park advocate and healthcare provider, died Jan. 20, four days before her 70th birthday, following a five-year battle with breast cancer and one-year bout with carcinoma of the lung.
An award-winning gardener, Urevick saw horticulture as a way to organize and unite the community. She planted street trees through the Pennsylvania Horticulture Society’s Tree Tenders program, and inspired her neighbors on Schuyler Street to help make it one of the most beautiful streets in Germantown. In 2022, she was given a “Bridge Builder” award from the City of Philadelphia.
“Pat was an amazing person who had the kindest heart in addition to all of her community work. She was the beating heart of the neighborhood,” said Irv Ackelsberg, Urevick’s partner of 50 years.
Urevick served as a leader of the Friends of Fernhill Park, a nonprofit group that works to preserve and improve the park at 4600 Morris St, which is not far from Urevick’s home on Schuyler Street. For several decades, she was the force behind the organization, organizing cleanups and plantings, and helping the Southwest Germantown neighborhood embrace the park as a neighborhood sanctuary and community gathering place.
Born at Misericordia Hospital in Southwest Philadelphia, Urevick was the daughter of Anna Marie Touey and Alphonsus Urevick. She grew up with five sisters around 57th Street and Chester Avenue in a two-story row home that was within walking distance of her grandparents and numerous aunts, uncles and cousins.
Urevick and her sisters were part of the first generation in their family to attend college. At 18, Urevick enrolled in Rutgers University-Camden, where she met Ackelsberg, who was a student in the law school. After returning to Philadelphia, Urevick graduated from Temple University and later from the Physician Assistant (PA) program at Hahnemann University Hospital. She worked as a primary care PA for 40 years, most of which were with the University of Pennsylvania Student Health Service. Her diagnostic skills and compassionate care, we were told, were the stuff of legend.
Urevick and Ackelsberg moved to Southwest Germantown in 1979, first to a rowhouse on Morris Street, then to a larger twin on Schuyler Street in 1989. They raised three sons there, who all attended Project Learn, the former parent co-op school in Mt. Airy, and went on to attend Philadelphia public high schools. Sons Dan, who lives in South Philadelphia, and Louis (Germantown) both attended Central High School. Alex, who lives in Fairmount, went to Parkway High School.
Urevick’s friend Ann Doley said, “Pat was a pillar of Southwest Germantown, beloved by so many and a great community organizer, especially concerning Friends of Fernhill Park, which has transformed Germantown’s biggest park despite enormous challenges. The tributes to Pat on Facebook and at the service from former colleagues, friends, neighbors, fellow Buddhists, Fernhill Park people and family were amazing.”
A nearby neighbor, Barbara Bechtel, added, “My son, Noel, and Pat's son, Alex, were often together with their friend, Morgan, who also lived close by. Going to Fernhill Park was a favorite place to hang out, but Pat was also very accommodating. As parents, we were often on the phone tracking down our boys.”
Urevick died peacefully in the home she loved, embraced by a steady stream of family and friends who would sit with her, hold her hand and share memories. During a crowded interfaith service at Laurel Hill Funeral Home in Bala Cynwyd on Jan. 24, hundreds remembered Urevick and expressed gratitude for her longtime community service, Ackelsberg recounted, adding “The outpouring was amazing.”
In addition to her husband and sons, Urevick is survived by grandchildren Chaya, 16, Ari, 11, Bobby 9, Ivy, 4, and Roman, 1. According to Ackelsberg, “Little Ivy stood up and spoke at a 'shiva' gathering (seven-day Jewish mourning period) and declared, 'My Mima loved children.'”
In lieu of flowers, donations in her name may be made to Friends of Fernhill Park Playground Fund, 5030 Schuyler St., Phila., 19144, or to Doctors Without Borders.
Len Lear can be reached at lenlear@chestnuthilllocal.com
