Pat successfully procured grants that provided indoor asthma assessments, oral health screenings, CPR-AED trainings, and breast health screenings, and increased community awareness to food-borne illness, green cleaning, obesity prevention, cardiovascular health, Lyme disease, and a host of other public health priorities. Working with her team, she created the NDDH logo and brand that we continue to promote today.

“Pat was a highly respected community leader and loyal public health servant who made countless contributions throughout her lifetime,” commented Elaine Lippke, a current NDDH Board member who served as Board Chair during Pat’s tenure. “She will be greatly missed by her former colleagues, community partners, and the many people she served throughout the NDDH region. We extend our sincerest condolences to her family, friends, and colleagues.”

Additional information:

Patricia Cordle Beckenhaupt

Patricia Cordle (Backus) Beckenhaupt RN, MPH, MS died on Thursday, January 26, 2023, after a brief illness. Pat leaves her husband Ken of 28 years; two daughters Laura (Michael Haluch) and Kathleen (Jeff Enger), a son Raymond (Aubrey) and seven grandchildren (Rebecca, Ashley, Sarah, Jazmine, Hunter, Rylie and Mac). She also leaves her brother Kevin Cordle; sister-in-law Janice Nicholl and four nieces (Heather, Kelsey, Lexi and Danielle). She was predeceased by her mother and father, Mary and Edgar Cordle.

Pat’s career in health care is expansive where she emerged early on as a leader in nursing, graduating in 1968 from Mary Immaculate Hospital School of Nursing in Jamaica, Queens, New York. She went on to serve for 11 years as Assistant Vice President and Director of Emergency Medical Services at Johnson Memorial Hospital in Stafford Springs, CT. That experience paved the way for her role as Director of Health for the Northeast District Department of Health in Brooklyn CT for nine years and then on to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta GA serving as a Public Health Analyst until her retirement in 2015.

Within a year of retirement Pat was back in the public health arena serving as an independent contractor for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health Immunization Program working as a VFC Site Assessor and Quality Improvement Immunization Nurse Consultant. Pat rounded out her career by serving as a COVID Case Investigator and Contact Tracer for Partners in Health – University of Connecticut stationed in Boston, MA.

In addition to her nursing degree, Pat obtained a Master of Public Health degree from the University of Connecticut and a Master of Science in Education from Eastern Connecticut State University.

Pat donated her body to science thus continuing her passion and commitment to medicine, science and research.

A Memorial Service will be scheduled at a later date. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in memory of Pat to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution where she served as a dedicated volunteer: https://gift.whoi.edu/page/7738/donate/1?locale=en-US. Please select the button labeled “in honor or memory of” at the bottom of the page and include Pat’s name.