I Am Wilshire – Patty Latham.
Hometown: I was born in Oak Cliff and grew up in Grand Prairie.
Education: Bachelor’s degree in education
Profession: Trainer at ADP
Present city: I moved to Richardson when I married Paul. I can’t imagine living anywhere but Texas.
What do you do for work? I didn’t teach in public schools but did use my degree (somewhat) as a trainer at ADP, where I met Paul, my husband of 33 years.
Tell us about your family. Paul and I have two adult daughters; Katy is a HR specialist married to Jared, and in April 2022 they will have a baby girl (our first grandchild!). Amelia will complete a master’s degree in accounting in May.
What are your favorite hobbies? Although reading and writing are my main hobbies now, this baby girl will get a lot of our time and attention and move to the top of the list!
What brought you to Wilshire? A former minister told us about Wilshire. Unfortunately, we didn’t have any interest in a Baptist church, so I ignored her suggestion and visited other churches, all of which I found uninspiring. At the time Paul was completing his responsibilities at our old church, so I was searching alone. Finally, I decided that I would research Wilshire, even though I knew we wouldn’t visit. I must say that reading about the church piqued my interest, especially when I read about “the vote” [for full LGBTQ inclusion]. My search was stalling, so I thought, “it won’t hurt to check it out; the worst that can happen is I’ll waste a couple of hours of my time.” So I visited Cord of Three and never tried another class. Surprisingly, I knew that I had found our church home and family.
Where are you engaged in Wilshire? We became involved immediately in the life of Wilshire. Paul and I are mentors in Marriage Connections, a program we sorely missed during the pandemic. I am a Stephen Minister and a member of the Library Committee — I’ll be chair next year. I often volunteer in the church library. If I could do it again, I would get my degree in library science. However, I feel like I’m getting that library science degree working with [Wilshire librarian] Barbara Peterson; she’s taught me so much! I love the library and Wilshire has an amazing one. Wilshire has time and again proven that they practice what they preach. I’m blessed to be a member of the Wilshire family.
• If you’d like to be featured in “I Am Wilshire,” contact Carolyn Murray at cmurray@wilshirebc.org.