Patricia Ann Hargrave

Patricia Ann Hargrave (née Riggs) of Rancho Mirage, CA passed away on June 30, 2026. She was 90. A longtime resident of the San Diego area, where she was born on November 19, 1935, Pat lived in Palm Springs for the last several years of her life, mostly sharing a house with her beloved son Ken. In her youth, she lived in various parts of the country with her mother, Oma, including Arkansas and Massachusetts, as her father, Joe, served in the U.S. Navy before and during World War II. After the war, the family settled in National City, CA and welcomed a second daughter, Rita, in 1946. Pat attended Sweetwater High School where she was a popular classmate and played violin in the school’s orchestra. She had a lifelong passion for music, playing the piano since the age of five. Shortly after high school, she met and married Kenneth Ercil Hargrave, a navy man like her father, and eventually welcomed two sons into her family. In the mid-1960's, she and Ken divorced and Pat embarked on her own path through life. It must have taken a significant amount of courage at that time to set off on her own with two young boys to raise as a single mother. Pat enjoyed a long career as an executive assistant and worked into her early 70’s, finally retiring in San Diego. Throughout her working career, Pat cultivated many friendships which she kept for life. She dated several men after her divorce but never remarried. She relished her independence and was very proud of her accomplishments as a single woman and mother. Above all else, Pat loved her extended family. She could wax on and on about the exploits of various cousins, aunts, uncles, nieces, and nephews. The amount of detail she retained about her family was simply amazing. She was afraid of flying, so she took many road trips across the country to visit with friends and family. Her dedication to family was also evidenced by taking care of her sister, who had Down’s syndrome. Preceded in death by her parents, Joseph Martin Riggs and Oma Gurdel Riggs, sister Rita Jo Riggs, and son Kenneth Eugene Hargrave. She is survived by her son Martin Hargrave and daughter-in-law Diane, and three grandsons: Kevin, Thomas, and Grant.

Her sharp sense of humor and love of family will be greatly missed.