Pat Pendry '78
Pat Pendry, a '78 graduate of Ursuline, is currently Program Director (Creative Area) for American Greetings. She manages a staff of graphic and line designers responsible for all stationery and calendar products. All the creations in these product areas have to be approved by Pat. Pat has been with American Greetings for 17 years. Pat has a very interesting story describing how she got to where she is now.
She grew up in Detroit, but her former husband's job brought them to Cleveland. When their 2 children were in grade school, she felt the need to go back to school and finish her degree. Ursuline's continuing education program had recently begun and Pat was going to take advantage of its opportunities. She states her gratitude to St. Rose Angela, who was running the program, for being so helpful, nurturing and encouraging, even though Pat could only take one class a semester (it took her awhile to graduate).
Pat also fondly remembers her writing courses and how, many years later while reading some old class papers, she was amazed she wrote such material. She felt her teachers brought out the best in her. One of Pat's elective courses in her senior year was a calligraphy class, and it changed her life. She found out she had a real talent for it and started doing calligraphy work for pay on a small scale. She decided to take a risk and applied for work at American Greetings and got hired. She went from calligrapher to graphic designer, then into management.
Now she manages her own team of professionals who create the products that are sold in stores all over the nation. Pat feels very grateful to Ursuline College and the faculty she had. The Catholic environment was comfortable, having grown up in parochial schools, and the understanding and compassion shown to her during some very difficult personal years, allowed her to persevere and continue on to finish her degree. She felt that participating in a strong Catholic environment gave her the strength to grow in her own faith, even through her hard times. "Ursuline has truly made the difference in my life," concludes Pat Pendry.
