Patrick Doyle Obituary

Patrick James Doyle, 87, died peacefully on March 30, 2016, at Prince George Healthcare. Mr. Doyle was born at McLeod Infirmary in Florence, S. C. on March 23, 1929. He was the third in a set of triplets born to Joseph Ambrose Doyle and Ruth Hattie Hazard Doyle. An Eagle Scout, he graduated from Winyah High School and The Citadel. After serving in the Air Force, he earned his law degree from the University of South Carolina.

Mr. Doyle maintained a private law practice in Georgetown for more than 50 years. For many years he was the Assistant Solicitor. He also served as city attorney for 46 years, overseeing a number of projects to expand and improve Georgetown. He was most proud of his work to increase city services to the West End and to construct Harborwalk. Mr. Doyle was a member of Prince George Winyah Episcopal Church, serving on its Vestry as junior warden. He was a member and president of the Winyah Indigo Society, the Cotillion Club, the Rotary Club and the Georgetown Bar Association.

Noted for his wit and sense of humor, Mr. Doyle kept the Rotary Club entertained as its Health and Happiness chair. He loved golfing twice a week with his buddies at Winyah Bay and Wedgefield. Mr. Doyle was a devoted husband, father and grandfather who enjoyed relaxing on the back porch with his family. He especially loved listening to an eclectic range of music from Beethoven to Sons of the Pioneers to Leon Redbone, and he loved "harmonizing" with his family. As an excellent dancer, he was a popular partner in his youth at the Pawley's Pavilion and later at Cotillion. Mr. Doyle also was quite the raconteur, once explaining to a group of wide-eyed tourists during the Plantation Tours that a cast iron doorstop at his house was actually the petrified remains of a beloved family pet cat.

Mr. Doyle was a 13th generation descendant of Thomas Hazard, signer of the 1639 Newport Compact to found Newport, R. I., and a collateral descendant of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry and his brother Commodore Matthew C. Perry. Mr. Doyle's great-grandfather Benjamin Ingell Hazard relocated the family to Georgetown in 1840.

Mr. Doyle is predeceased by his oldest brother Joseph Ambrose Doyle, Jr., his older sister Jonathan "Johnnie" Ingell Hazard Doyle Hale, his triplet brothers Ingell Hazard Doyle and Arthur Hazard Doyle, and his double first cousin Frances Ingell Doyle, M.D. Surviving are his childhood sweetheart and wife of 59 years Laura Patricia Davis Doyle; his younger sister Sarah Hazard Doyle Pusey (Frank) of Summerville, S. C.; older daughter Laura Colbert Doyle Gates (Gary); son Patrick James Doyle, Jr.; both of Georgetown, and younger daughter Frances Irene Doyle (Scott Spangenberg) of Amherst, N. H.; and three grandchildren Henry Luke Gates, Madeleine Ambrose Gates and Nathan Frank Gates.

Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. at Prince George, Winyah, Episcopal Church on Saturday, April 2, the Very Reverend Paul C. Fuener officiating. A reception will follow at the Parish Hall. Burial will take place at a later date. Sign a guest book at mayerfuneralhome.com. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Prince George Preservation Fund (P.O. Box 674, Georgetown, S.C., 29442) or Tidelands Community Hospice (2591 N. Fraser St., Georgetown, S.C., 29440).

The Georgetown Chapel of Mayer Funeral Home is in charge of arragements.