Patricia Lynn (Martin) Rosencrance

Patricia “Patsy” Rosencrance (née Martin) of Parsonsburg died in early July at age 74. She was a nurse and artist who loved to bake pies and live on her farm.

 Born in Harford County to Howard and Lois Martin, Patsy earned degrees in nursing and art from Harford Community College and the University of Maryland before following her family to the Eastern Shore in the early 1970s. There she spent decades as an emergency room and surgical nurse, caring for thousands of patients in the Salisbury area.

Later in life Patsy purchased a farm in Parsonsburg, where she raised chickens and cows. She found joy in caring for the animals and sharing the farm’s fresh eggs with family and friends. A proponent of holistic health, Patsy baked her own bread, jogged or walked most days and was a lifelong vegetarian. She attended Woodstock with her sons and embodied the peace and love of the hippie movement. She was quick to laugh and never hurt a fly.

Patsy is survived by two sons, including John Sims and his wife Sarah of Bel Air; a brother, Howard Martin and his wife Karen of Bishopville; and many nieces and nephews. She is preceded in death by her parents, her husband Jim Rosencrance, and her two sisters, Penelope Mann of Salisbury and Pamela Martin of Joppatowne.