Patricia Joan (Brooks) Lodato of Evansville, age 74, loving wife, mother, and grandmother, passed away peacefully at home on Friday, December 31, 2021, following a lengthy illness. Patti was born on April 9, 1947, in Beech Grove, Indiana, the only child of Joseph Brooks and Mida (Cruft) Brooks.
Patti attended Franklin Community High School in Franklin, Indiana, where she was valedictorian of her graduating class. She attended the University of Evansville, graduating with a degree in English in 1969. In her senior year she was awarded the prestigious Woodrow Wilson Fellowship for graduate study. She earned a master's degree in English Literature at Indiana University, Bloomington in 1970.