"The favorite part of my job is the people."

That's Patty! Her job focused on making people look beautiful on the outside, but what she really loved - her true talent - was making people feel great on the inside. "My job is just to make people look the best that they can and just bring out everything for them so that they can go on the air and feel better prepared," she said in a 2012 profile. "Just about anyone that comes in, it makes them feel more confident."

Patty was a beloved makeup artist at the shared NBC, MSNBC and CNBC television studios on Capitol Hill. She started helping friends with makeup and created a successful career. For three decades Patty made sure Washington's most powerful politicians were camera-ready. Presidents, senators, movie stars, supermodels and royalty - President Obama, Hillary Clinton and Princess Diana - all sat in Patty's chair. The makeup room has been renamed "Patty's Place" in her honor. She also shared her talents with the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Patty had a distinctive, robust laugh and derived joy being the "unofficial office event planner." She had a knack for finding unique treats to celebrate birthdays and loved watching people enjoy them.

On Wednesday, October 26, Patty lost her valiant battle with endometrial cancer. She is survived by daughter, Sherry Lynn Zveare Shilling of Parkton, MD; brother, John McFarland (Diane) of Bowie, MD and their adult children Brett and Kasey, as well as dear friends, The Gibson family (Jake, Sheri, Faith and John) of Alexandria, VA and Sacrey Dobbins of Denver, CO, whom she considered family and were by her side until the end. Patty was preceded in death by her parents, Navy CWO2 Tommie C. and Virginia Charleane McFarland of Oxon Hill, MD.