The Reverend Patricia Steinecke Downing
I am the youngest of the three children of Charles and Maureen Steinecke. My father and mother met on a blind date at Middlebury College. My parents grew up in NY, my mother in Massapequa and my father in Queens. My dad's career was spent at the National Security Agency. My mom worked as a librarian until she had children. After my brother was born she was a stay-at-home mother until she was elected to the Prince George's County School Board. She resigned her third term to become the executive director of the Maryland Association of Boards of Education. Both are retired now and living in Silver Spring, Maryland. They summer in Winter Harbor, Maine where our family has a house.
I was born at Prince George's County Hospital in Cheverly Maryland October 26, 1966. I have an older brother John. He and his wife, Nancy and two daughters, Charlotte and Helen, live in our home town, Laurel. John works for an executive search firm and is also the owner of Preservation Archives, an archival service. Nancy works of the National Security Agency. Charlotte is a sophomore at Laurel High School. It is the very same one that her father, Aunt and I all attended. Helen is in the 8th grade at Thomas Pullen Middle School. Ann is my older sister. She and her partner Sharon live a block from Dickie and I in the District of Columbia. Both are PhDs. Ann works for the Association of American Medical Colleges on policy and programs to increase diversity. Sharon works for the Human Rights Campaign as Associate Director of the Religion and Faith Program.
During my childhood, we lived in Laurel, Maryland except for a year in Wellesley, Massachusetts. My father was working on his MBA as a Sloan Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. While in Wellesley, I attended preschool, which was not so great a feat except for the fact that one of the members of my class later became my freshman roommate at the University of Vermont and remains one of my very best friends. We moved back to Laurel, and I attended public schools. My family attended St. Philip's Episcopal Church in Laurel. There I found a wonderful community that nurtured me in my faith. I participated in many groups and programs there until going to Seminary. After graduating from high school, I went off to the University of Vermont and double majored in Political Science and Asian Studies. As part of my Asian Studies work I spent a semester in Beijing studying Chinese.
After graduation from college, I worked for a few years at Octo, Inc., a microfilm company, located in Laurel, Maryland. Post college I began to discern a call to the priesthood. The Reverend Jane Dixon was my rector during that time of discernment, and she sponsored me for admittance into the ordination process. I did my seminary training at the General Theological Seminary in New York. After graduation, I received a call to be the associate at St. Paul's in Waldorf, Maryland. I was ordained a deacon in June of 1995 and a priest in January of 1996. Dickie and I were married in October of 1995 at St. James Capitol Hill in Washington, DC where he served as the rector. Two years into my time at St. Paul's, September of 1997, I was called to be the rector of Good Shepherd. Dickie and I lived for many years in the rectory at St. James. We purchased our current home in 2003.
We adopted a Bassett hound by the name of Chevre, eleven years ago. Chevre has been known to come to work with me from time to time.
Our hobbies include cooking, travel, gardening and reading. I have been known to play golf and pétanque. Although much has been said about my career as a soccer goalie, it may be time to hang up my cleats.
