Patricia McAllister, 101, former beautician

AFTER LIVING 101 years, Patricia McAllister told her family she wanted to go home.

She was then in a nursing home, and her nephew David Burnett said, "I thought she was talking about leaving the nursing home, but now I know she was talking about going home to be with her Lord."

Aunt Pat, as she was known to her family, died Sept. 29. She was living in the York Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, but had lived most of her life in Fairmount and Center City.

Her nephew described his aunt as "very adventurous and independent."

"One reason she moved to Center City was so she could walk and frequent the stores and shops on Chestnut Street between 18th and 19th streets," he said. "I would run into her from time to time when I had to travel downtown.

"I came out of a job interview one time and there was my Aunt Pat coming down the street. She loved to walk around Penn's Landing, which was easily accessed from her residence at Old City Presbyterian Apartments."

Patricia McAllister was born Patricia Palmer in Oxford, Pa. She and her sister, Clementine, were very close, and when they relocated to Philadelphia, they lived with another aunt, Subella Littlejohn.

"My Aunt Subella was the one who made sure all of us went to church," David said. "They attended Haven Memorial Methodist Church, where the girls were active in Sunday school, vacation Bible school and other ministries. After Aunt Pat left home, she joined Mount Zion Methodist Church."

Patricia studied at Berean Institute and became a beautician. "She worked in a parlor for another beautician but did not really like the situation," her nephew said.

She then took a job at the Marine Depot of Supplies in South Philadelphia. It was there that she met Reil "Mack" McAllister, the man she called the "love of her life," David said.

"According to her, she was taken by this sharp-dressing and charming young man," her nephew said. They married in 1958.

They had no children, but Reil had a son, called "Mack Jr.," from a previous relationship. They also had two cats, which they treated like children.

"When Mack died in 1993, my aunt kept the cats and pampered them even more," David said.

"My aunt was very special to me," he said. "She seemed to take seriously the role of encourager in my life. I will never forget that when I was in the Boy Scouts and needed to purchase a kerchief ring, I did not have the 50 cents required. My Aunt Pat made sure I had the ring, something that I have to this day.

"Her investing in me helped me to move up in the ranks to become the leader of several troops in the Philadelphia area. When I expressed an interest in photography, she encouraged me by buying a camera that I wanted."

Patricia suffered a stroke in 2011 and could no longer live alone. She then moved into the nursing home.

Besides her husband, she was predeceased by her sister, Clementine.

Services: Memorial service 2:30 p.m. tomorrow at the Walter E. Sabbath Jr. Funeral Home, 7224 Ogontz Ave.