Faye Pattillo Tolmach

Faye Pattillo Tolmach

Faye Pattillo Tolmach was born Adelaide Fay Pattillo on September 19, 1935 in Santa Monica, California, and passed away July 14, 2025, at 89 years of age, in Lynnwood, Washington.

She had a sister named Betty (who loved horses) who sadly only lived to the age of 20 (and Faye would have wanted her to be mentioned!). Her father was James Raleigh “Pat” Pattillo Jr. and her mother was born Mabelle Wrinkle Herrell. Mabelle first went out with his brother Boyd before going with Pat, and marrying him. About one month after Faye was born, Boyd died of the flu.

Faye was a (retired) licensed, clinical social worker, and a very proud Stanford graduate! All of Faye’s parents and grandparents were college graduates. She attended and graduated Van Nuys High School, grew up and had lived in the greater Los Angeles area, (mostly the San Fernando Valley) for many years before moving to Seattle in 1991, living in Washington state for the rest of her life. Faye loved living in Washington.

She married Morris Tolmach in 1965, also a clinical social worker whom she met at work a few years earlier (at a lunch meeting in Pershing Square, downtown L.A.). She changed her legal first name when she got married, but had always gone by Faye and had also spelled it that way. She shared a beautiful marriage with Morry until his death in September, 2021.

They had one son, Daniel, born in 1967.

Faye and Morry both loved classical music and especially opera. (Faye also liked to play the piano.) It was opera music that truly bonded them, but they also loved the arts, and history. Faye was also a great lover of literature (Morry less so). They were very happily married for 56 years, and ended up buying their last house in Brier, WA where Faye remained for twenty years, before being put on hospice in June, 2025.

Faye adored her friends more than anything else in her life, and they all loved her back. Her spirits were always uplifted by the people around her. She was an amazingly kind, caring, and compassionate person, and not only to her friends. She was extremely empathetic and generous towards others she often did not even know personally. She was passionate about many causes, especially equality for all people, all in trying to make the world a better place. She was very interested in other cultures and loved learning about their histories, art, and ways of life. She was very accepting and understanding of everyone, no matter where they came from or what their status was. Faye was extremely generous. She gave to countless charities worldwide, from feeding those in extreme poverty to helping abused animals, and so much more. Essentially, she was concerned about those who were less fortunate than herself. Faye cared.

Faye loved being alive, and always found a way to enjoy herself, even through her darkest times. In her later days, she enjoyed reading (especially The New Yorker magazine), viewing her art lectures on the television, and watching and listening to her operas. She always held on to her love of learning. She fought hard through many physical challenges in her final years, never one to complain. Faye always tried. She is going to be missed dearly by everyone that knew her. May her generous, kind soul rest in peace.