Patricia Anne Dziewit, a retired social worker, died of leukemia Feb. 7 at Carroll County Hospital Center. She was 70 and lived in Westminster.
Born in York, Pa., and raised in Reservoir Hill and Hamilton, she attended Corpus Christi School and was a 1958 Catholic High School graduate. She earned a bachelor of arts degree at the Maryland Institute College of Art.
Family members said she was born with physical disabilities and walked with the aid of prosthetic devices. She had numerous surgeries.
"She had a determination to achieve all she could," said her sister, Donna Trotter of Baltimore.
She taught at the School of the Chimes and St. Bernardine's School before she joined the Department of Social Services in the early 1970s. She was caseworker who worked with families and young women.
"She wanted justice for them," her sister said. "She appeared before judges to make a case for her clients."
"My aunt was exceptional: one of those rare people who could bridge the gap between being artistic and being brainy. She managed to do it in a body that often let her down," said her niece, Taylor Le Bon of Baltimore.
She enjoyed history and genealogy. She also had dogs and cats.
Services were private.
In addition to her sister and niece, survivors include a brother, David Dziewit of Germany; and another sister, Cathy Dziewit of Laguna Beach, Calif. Her husband of 15 years, Bernard Sause, died in 1999.