Dr. Patricia Eileen Gay, an experimental psychologist and psychopharmacologist who worked with her husband, Dr. Jack A. Madsen (deceased) at the Utah State Training School in American Fork in addressing the problems of epileptic patients and who later taught psychology and statistics at Westminster College, died Saturday, August 20, at home in Salt Lake City.
Born in Cleveland, Ohio, on October 13, 1941, to William and Marjorie Gay, Pat spent her first five years with her mother and grandparents while her father fought with Patton's Third Army in Europe. Once he returned home, the family moved to Somerville, NJ, and welcomed their second child, Margaret Jean, in 1947. During her childhood, Pat's family moved to both Middlesex and later Bound Brook, NJ, where she graduated from Bound Brook High School. An excellent student, she was active in a number of school clubs and loved to study foreign languages. Her brother, William Thomas, was born in 1958, just as Pat was in the midst of her senior year.
A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Middlebury College in Vermont, she began her college career as a French language major and then transferred to psychology as her interest in the subject grew. She also worked summers at Jackson Laboratories in Bar Harbor, Maine, under the tutelage of Dr. Lincoln Clark, head of the department of psychiatry at the University of Utah. Her Masters degree was awarded by the University of Wisconsin in Madison, where she worked with Harry Harlow, the famous "monkey man." Her doctorate was completed at Rutgers University in New Jersey and involved the study of the amygdala of the brain as the seat of aggression in some lab animals. When a sabbatical working with Jane Goodall in Africa was cancelled by the university due to lack of funding, she instead came to Salt Lake City to work under Dr. Clark. It was there that she met her future husband and began her work in Utah. She and her husband welcomed their daughter Jonelle into the world on July 2, 1981.
She began teaching at Westminster College in 1995 as an Associate Professor of Psychology and retired ten years later as a full Professor. She was the first staff member hired with neuroscience expertise and generated enthusiasm on the part of students regarding the study of brain function. One of her students later returned to Westminster as a professor and helped to found the neuroscience major. She also taught a course in "Lifespan Development" and was famous for bringing together panels of guests from different stages and ages of development. At the American Psychological Association meeting in 2002 she and two other staff members presented a poster on "Daily Hassles and Pleasures Across the Lifespan." This project was the result of the first Gore Student-Faculty grant given at Westminster.
A world traveler, she went to Africa with Westminster students under the leadership of an emeritus professor.
Pat was a Ruling Elder and Deacon at Wasatch Presbyterian Church where she worked with the Worship and Music Committee. She also sang in the church choir for years.
A tireless volunteer at Primary Children's Hospital, she served as chaplain there for a number of years.
Since her retirement from Westminster, she and her golden retriever Rupert worked closely with Intermountain Therapy Animals, visiting assisted living and skilled nursing facilities to greet patients. She also continued to travel; worked with the Westminster Women's Board; taught at Osher, the life-long learning institute at the University of Utah; and spent time with her beloved grandchildren.
She leaves behind her daughter, Jonelle Edwards, Jonelle's husband Christopher, and their three children, Jackson, Lily, and Tate; a sister, Margaret Jean Solitario, of New Hope, PA; a brother, William Thomas Gay, of The Villages, Florida; and four stepchildren and their families: Camille (Clint) Allred, Brian (Beth) Madsen, Michele (David) Hart, and Cynthia (Joel) Sedgwick
The family is particularly grateful for the care and support offered by Lisseth Madsen (Glen) Turner, daughter-in-law, hospice staff and caregivers, and members of the Wasatch Presbyterian Church during these last few months and years.
A memorial service honoring her life will be held Saturday, September 10, at 11 a.m. at the Wasatch Presbyterian Church in Salt Lake City. Those wishing to make donations in her memory may give to Intermountain Therapy Animals (4050 S 2700 E, Salt Lake City, UT 84124) or to the Pat Gay-Madsen Memorial Trust c/o the Wasatch Presbyterian Church (1626 S 1700 E, Salt Lake City, UT 84108.
