Patricia Campbell Rosebrugh

Long time Cambridge resident Patricia passed away peacefully in Ottawa on a beautiful Sunday morning in September.

Patricia Orange was born in Hamburg, New York. Growing up, she and her sister Nancy, and her parents, Vera and Verne, lived in several towns in the north eastern USA where her father managed large steel plants. The family made the cross border move to Welland, Ontario when she was 13. After finishing high school, she went to the University of Toronto, graduating with an Honours BA in 1951. Her first job was with the Children’s Aid Society, which was challenging.

In 1953, she met Ben Rosebrugh at her best friend’s wedding. Marriage soon followed and then a move to Timmins, Ontario in January 1955 after honeymooning in Bermuda - quite the temperature change!

Returning to Galt in the late 1950’s Ben took over his mother’s business, Cedar Hill Dairy, and Patricia focussed on raising their children. Also, she soon found her true passion: saving her town’s attractive old stone buildings from the wrecking ball.

In the early 70’s, Patricia and Ben scoured the countryside of North Dumfries Township and Waterloo Region looking for an old stone house to restore and call home. Many a Saturday would be spent driving down gravel roads, family in tow, looking for the right property. When nothing was found, our parents decided to build their own “old” home! With 25 acres of beautiful forest severed off from my grandfather’s dairy farm, our parents built a lovely cedar shake clad home, complete with salvaged wood paneling and doors from some of downtown Galt’s demolished buildings. Many happy memories were formed at our family home on the Cheese Factory road.

Patricia was an early member of the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario and one of the founders of Heritage Cambridge. In 2014, at Queen’s Park, she was honoured to receive The Lieutenant Governor’s Ontario Heritage Award for Lifetime Achievement “in appreciation of a lifetime of volunteer work to identify, preserve and protect our province’s rich heritage”

Patricia moved to Ottawa in 2012 after the passing of her loving husband of 57 years, to be near her two children, Jennifer Rosebrugh (Jeff Murray) and Jeff Rosebrugh (Anne Galipeau) and her beloved granddaughter, Maya Rosebrugh-Galipeau.

She loved living close to her family in Ottawa’s Lindenlea neighbourhood and enjoyed her time and friends at The Rockcliffe Retirement Home in Ottawa.

Patricia enjoyed many happy summers at the family cottage on the shores of Lake Huron in Grand Bend, a love that she has passed on to her children and granddaughter.

Patricia is predeceased by her husband Ben ‘12, beloved daughter Jennifer L Orange Rosebrugh ’17 and sister Nancy Orange Birch ‘18 of Claremont California. 

Mom was a loving joyful person who was always positive and had a superb outlook on life. She saw the good in everyone she met. Truly A Life Well Lived!