For Patsy Hollingsworth Deverse, the Presbyterian Home for Children was more than a place to live. It was the place that helped shape the woman she would become.
Before her passing in April at age 88, Patsy made one final gift to the Home that had given her so much. Through a $108,000 donation to the Presbyterian Home for Children’s Capital Campaign, she ensured that future generations of children and families will benefit from the same nurturing environment that helped her build a successful life.
“It wasn’t all perfect, but she had a better life because of the Home,” said her husband of nearly 70 years, Frank Deverse. “She always said she owed a lot to the Home.”
Patsy’s story began on the PHFC campus in 1942 when she arrived as a 5-year-old girl alongside her sister, Barbara Ann. The sisters had recently lost both of their parents. Patsy was the youngest of 11 children in a respected Talladega family, but the challenges of the post-Depression era left relatives unable to care for the two young girls. Several of her brothers were serving in World War II, while her older sisters were raising families of their own.
For the next decade, the Home became Patsy’s foundation.
She lived on campus until 1952, leaving at age 15 after her sister graduated from high school. Patsy then moved to Pennsylvania to live with an older sister. There, as a ninth grader, she met the young man who would become her lifelong partner.
“I’m happy she picked me,” Frank said with a smile.
Together, the couple built an extraordinary life. Frank designed and manufactured computer chips while Patsy managed bookkeeping, sales, and business operations. Their partnership helped grow a successful company that provided financial security and opportunities they could scarcely have imagined as young newlyweds.
The Deverses raised four children and eventually welcomed six grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. Their business success also allowed them to travel extensively. Patsy visited every continent except two.
Yet no matter where life took her, she never forgot the place where her journey began.
Frank recalls how often Patsy spoke about the lessons she learned at the Home. She credited the Home with teaching her faith, manners, responsibility, and what she called “the right way to live.”
“When she had to make a decision, she always made the right decision,” Frank said. “She was driven by the morality that she learned at the Home.”
As a child, Patsy played the violin and frequently traveled with former PHFC President Rev. Allen Jacobs to churches across Alabama, helping raise awareness and support for the ministry. Years later, she proudly brought Frank and her children back to campus several times to visit her childhood home and reconnect with the people who had influenced her life.
“She was proud to show Dr. Jacobs her family and the progress she had made,” Frank recalled.
As Patsy’s health declined, she received information about the Home’s Capital Campaign and the 1868 Society. The campaign focuses on improving and preserving facilities across PHFC’s historic campus so that children and families can continue receiving care in safe, welcoming spaces.
The mission resonated deeply with her.
She wanted future children to experience the same sense of stability, guidance, and opportunity that she had found decades earlier.
To make her gift, Patsy used a charitable distribution from her Individual Retirement Account (IRA), a giving option that allows individuals age 70½ and older to transfer funds directly from their IRA to a qualified nonprofit organization. Because the funds go directly to the charity, the distribution is generally not counted as taxable income, making it a tax-efficient way to support causes that matter most.
Her $100,000 gift will help improve facilities throughout the campus, ensuring that future generations have access to quality housing, educational spaces, and supportive environments where lives can be transformed.
Patsy’s generosity reflects a growing number of alumni and friends who choose to support PHFC through planned and legacy gifts. Many of them share a common motivation: gratitude for the role the Home played in their lives and a desire to help future children build strong foundations of their own.
For Patsy, the gift was more than a donation. It was a thank-you.
Ten years at the Presbyterian Home for Children helped shape a little girl who had experienced profound loss into a woman known for her faith, resilience, generosity, and strong moral character. Through her final act of giving, she ensured that the Home’s mission will continue for generations to come.
Her life stands as a powerful reminder that when we invest in children, the impact can last a lifetime.
