Patricia Kinser Reppert of Saugerties
Patricia Kinser Reppert, 12x great-granddaughter of Chief Powhatan through Pocahontas and distant cousin of the great Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain), was known to thousands simply as “The Goddess of Garlic.”
She came into this world in 1936, daughter of a nurse (Gladys Whitten) and a small town orthopedist (Prentice Kinser Jr.) in rural southern Virginia. She and her brother, Prentice Kinser III, spent time with their grandparents in the outskirts of Charlottesville, Va., during World War II, and afterwards grew up in Danville, Va. She later attended nursing school at Duke, and her first nursing job in New York City added a rich worldly balance to her southern gentility.
In 1963, Pat married Dr. Edmund “Rep” Reppert in New York and they later settled into “Shale Hill Farm” in Saugerties, N.Y., in the beautiful Hudson River Valley. Here she split her time between helping with Rep’s cardiology practice, raising horses, racing pigs (!), and gardening. Pat was an avid gardener, lecturer, and author with a generous spirit and knack for inspiring others. In May 1987, Pat opened her antique/ gift/herbal shop at Shale Hill Farm. Pat’s shop was a gathering place for all types of folks. Newcomers were as welcome as those who had been shopping there for years. Her first book debuted on the radio program, “In the Kitchen,” which aired on WGHQ-Kingston and WOY-Schenectady from 1988-1989. “In the Kitchen” was a collection of her family and friends’ favorite recipes. Her next cookbook, “Mad for Garlic,” features her favorite garlic recipes and showed her fun side of cooking as well as her wonderful sense of humor. Pat was always eager to share her knowledge on any subject. In 1989, she hosted a little garlic dinner party at the gardens at Shale Hill Farm to educate people and promote New York-grown garlic. In three years, this “garlic thing” had completely outgrown the Farm and it was turned over to the Saugerties Kiwanis Club (today known as the Hudson Valley Kiwanis Club). Today the Hudson Valley Garlic Festival is a two-day event, complete with cooking demonstrations, garlic lectures, entertainment, arts/crafts, etc., with up to 45,000 attendees at the two-day event. Her success in life was legendary, whether in the medical, herbal, shop owner or chef realm -- she was always there to look out for others. If you were fortunate to hear her speak at a lecture, you felt like she was having a one-on-one conversation with you. Her southern graciousness and zest for life was always present, and her infectious laugh charmed all within hearing distance. Many times she was laughing at her own bloopers. One former mayor of Saugerties called her the eighth wonder of the world. Pat appeared on the “Martha Stewart Show” in 1996 to promote her love for garlic as well as the Garlic Festival. This segment is still aired today and can also be found on YouTube. Pat passed quietly to join the pantheon of past great goddesses on December 29, 2017.
She is survived and missed by loving family members and friends. She will be buried in the family plot in Danville, Va., in the summer. A memorial celebration will also be held at Shale Hill Farm in late September, fittingly the weekend of the 2018 Garlic Festival.
The family requests no flowers.
Donations may be made to: Bon Secours Hospice in Richmond, Va., whose nurses provided wonderful end-of-life care for her: www.bsvaf.org/supporthospice; or to the Hudson Valley Kiwanis Club, which runs the Garlic Festival that Pat started: http:// hvgf.org/.
Local arrangements under the supervision of Seamon-Wilsey Funeral Home Inc., Saugerties. Expressions of condolence may be shared with family at SeamonWilseyFuneralHome.com.