Boulder business leader Patterson dies at 93

BOULDER — Virginia Patterson, a Boulder community and business icon, died Oct. 20 at the age of 93.

Patterson, a 1995 inductee to the Boulder County Business Hall of Fame, co-owned the Printed Page bookstore in downtown Boulder. She served as chairwoman of the Boulder County School board for more than 10 years, and she was an active member of a host of organizations including the Boulder Rotary Club and Boulder Community Hospital Association.

Part of Patterson’s legacy is helping form the Downtown Boulder Business Association. 

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“I think of two things when I think of my mom: her intelligence and her caring,” Patterson’s son Bal Patterson said. “… I hit the parent lottery.”

Boulder’s St. Aidan’s Episcopal Church was founded by Patterson’s late husband Rev. A.B. Patterson.

Mother Mary Kate Rejouis, pastor at St. Aiden’s, said Virginia Patterson remained an active participant in the church community despite mounting health challenges in the past few years.

“The last couple of years have been tough,” Rejouis said. “But she still had this tremendous capacity to be interested in people and things and conversations.”

Patterson, a University of Colorado graduate, was a “true leading woman” and a “true servant” to the Boulder community, she said.

Despite her many accomplishments, awards and recognitions, Patterson remained humble and grounded, Bal Patterson said.

“She kept all of her awards under her bed,” he said. “It wasn’t about recognition for her.”

A funeral service will be held Dec. 2 at St. Aidan’s. The service is open to the public and tentatively scheduled to start at 2 p.m.

Editor’s note: A previous version of this story referred to Virginia Patterson as a co-founder of the Printed Page. She and  A.B. Patterson took over the store in 1978. A reference to the creation of the Pearl Street Mall was also removed.