Patricia Malone Layard

Patricia S. Layard (Patricia Sue Malone) passed away at home in Austin, Texas, on Thursday, April 8, 2021,at the age of 78.

Pat was born January 21, 1943, to Harold and Ellen Malone of Perryton. She had two elder sisters - Harolyn Olmstead, who predeceased her in September 2020, and Jane McDuffie, who lives in Lockhart, Texas. Pat’s younger brother, Mike Malone, passed away in 2000.

Pat was a student of Perryton HS (class of 1961), where she was active in band, student council, and choir. She followed in her sisters’ footsteps and attended SMU, but transferred to University of Oklahoma, where she graduated in 1965. While in college, Pat became a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma and she stayed lifelong friends with several of her Kappa sisters. She then went on to pursue her Master’s Degree in speech pathology at Stanford University. While at Stanford, Pat met fellow graduate student Maxwell W. Layard of Sydney, Australia, and they married in Perryton in 1966.

Over the years Pat and Max lived in Bethesda, Maryland and Northern California, and the two eventually moved to Austin, Texas in 1999 to be nearer to their only child, Julia, and Pat’s other Texas family.

Pat loved being outdoors in her gardens and she created beautiful spaces for family and friends to enjoy every place she lived. She also had a passion for doing hands-on home improvement projects and in the late 1980s she took early retirement to work on the historic restoration of an 1890 Victorian home in the San Francisco Bay Area, which she completed almost singlehandedly. After moving to Austin, Pat was an active volunteer with The Settlement Home for Children for many years. She also played a very important part in the care and raising of her grandson Max, and the two were very close.

Pat is survived by her husband Max; daughter Julia Kinsey; grandson Max Miller; and son-in-law Dan Kinsey. Other living family members include her sister Harolyn’s children, Dana Olmstead, Shannon Scoville (Sheri Knesek), and Kelly Olmstead (Kendall) and his children; sister Jane McDuffie and Jane’s daughters, Tracy Sole (Anton) their children, and Christy Cerralvo (Matthew) and her daughter; brother Mike’s widow, Susan Malone and their children Kevin Malone (Jennifer) and their children, and Brooke Kemp and her daughter; aunt Phyllis Price and Phyllis’ daughters, Penny Clark (Jim) and her son, Tanis McMorries and her daughter, Marla Elledge (Doak) and their children; and last but not least, her Aunt Jesse’s daughter, Joyce Durst (Tommy) and her children.

Pat will be cremated with Heart of Texas Cremation in Austin, Texas. Julia and her husband, Dan, plan a private memorial service for her in Red River, New Mexico, where the Malone family spent many happy holidays throughout Pat’s childhood and where she continued to travel over the years with her school friends, and later with her husband, daughter, and grandson. A memorial service with family in Texas will be held at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, family would genuinely appreciate donations in Pat’s name to the Ranger Academic Enrichment Foundation, P.O. Box 179, Perryton, TX 79070.