Patricia Michele Mulvey
Nov. 24, 1942-June 23, 2025
Palo Alto, California

Patricia Michele ("Trish") Mulvey of Palo Alto died peacefully at home on June 23, 2025. She was 82. Trish was born in Fresno, California, November 24, 1942, the first daughter of Catharine and Ralph Maxwell. She lived with her mother near her grandparents in La Jolla, California, while her father served in the Pacific for the U.S. Navy during World War II. The family returned to Fresno after the war, and her sister Judith Elizabeth ("Judy") Maxwell was born. When Mr. Maxwell was promoted by the Veteran's Administration as a field attorney and transferred to San Francisco in 1950, the family moved to Palo Alto, where her sister Catharine Ellen ("Kit") Maxwell was born. She graduated from Crescent Park, Jordan Junior High, and Palo Alto High School.

In June 1964, Trish received her Bachelor of Arts with honors in Social Sciences from the University of California, Riverside. On July 1, 1964, she began what would become a 25-year career with "the phone company" as the first woman on an inaugural college management program, working for Pacific Telephone Company in Pasadena, California. During the subsequent 3-day holiday weekend, on July 3, 1964, she met James J. ("Jim") Mulvey, and the two were married at her aunt and uncle's home in La Jolla on August 6, 1966. When she was promoted and transferred to San Francisco in 1971, the couple moved to Palo Alto. That fall Trish and her mother attended a Foothill College short course on the natural history of Baja California, and she enjoyed the nature photography field trip down the Pacific coast of Baja. Contacts made on that cruise resulted in what were in turn her life-long interests in nature photography and conservation focused on watersheds, creeks, and San Francisco Bay, for which she received numerous commendations and awards. About that same time, Trish also learned needlepoint, an adored creative outlet. Trish's needlework won local and regional awards, including a prize ribbon from the California State Fair.

In 1979, she earned her MBA from Pepperdine. When phone company divestiture arrived on January 1, 1984, her job was assigned to AT&T. Trish worked for AT&T in San Francisco until she accepted an early-retirement offer at the end of 1989 and could devote full time to her encore-career as a community volunteer and environmental activist.

Trish was preceded in death by her sister Judy Maxwell and her husband of 55 years, Jim Mulvey. She is survived by her sister Kit Maxwell, by her stepdaughter Julie Lucas and her family, and by her niece Samantha Elliott and her family. In keeping with her wishes, her ashes will be scattered at sea.

Tags: public service