1942 – 2024

On Sunday, Sept. 1 Patrick Thomas Woodburn passed away at a hospice center in Las Vegas, Nevada. He was surrounded by family and Ruth, his current partner.

Pat was born in Akron, Ohio in 1942 to Clifford J. Woodburn & Helen Elizabeth Lowe. He attended Hammonton High School in New Jersey while working in his father’s grocery store. He spent a short time in the U.S. Army Reserves, eventually landing a job in D.C. with The World Bank. 

Patrick was a pioneer in the computer and data processing fields in the early 1980s, which led him on a journey of entrepreneurship with his then-partner and wife Karen May Lambert. After moving from Henderson, Nevada to La Crescenta, Pat and Karen established Woodburn & Associates, their own computer programming consultancy.

They lived an active and exciting life there while raising their three children: Dayna, Matthew and Rebecca and engaged deeply in the local church and community. In 1989 the family moved to Louisville, Kentucky in correlation with the acquisition of their family business by a subsidiary of Humana Healthcare. From there, they developed a new company, Healthcare Recoveries Inc., which flourished from five employees to 500 in under five years. 

Pat retired from HRI in 1996 to enjoy his life with Karen in hopes to travel the world. That same year, Karen was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer and Pat turned his caring and loving attention to become a caregiver.

In 2000, they moved to Phoenix, Arizona where Pat was called to assist the City of Phoenix with conversion of computer systems in anticipation of Y2K. 

In 2008, Karen lost her battle with cancer and Pat relocated to Henderson, Nevada where he had started his career almost 40 years prior. 

There he met Ruth May, a fellow widow, who he has lived a loving life with through his final days. 

Pat was a model of a hardworking, dedicated and compassionate man with a deep sense of integrity. He passed these traits to his children, brought them into each and every business endeavor, and held them high for all that knew and loved him. He will be profoundly missed by his family, friends, loved ones and all who had the pleasure of knowing him. 

He is survived by his brother Timothy James; eldest daughter Dayna Leigh; son Matthew James; daughter Rebecca Elizabeth; and partner Ruth May.