By Karen Andrew
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Patricia Molloy knew babies. She coached mothers through the delivery of their infants for years at Good Samaritan Hospital, then ran the intensive care unit for babies at the Clifton hospital.

When not involved with her nursing career and charitable work, Mrs. Molloy was helping the neighborhood kids with their cuts and bruises in the St. Dominic parish area of Delhi, where the family lived. Even on family vacations, she pitched in with emergency medical help for anyone who needed it.

"She was the neighborhood nurse," said one of her sons, Thomas Molloy of Seattle. "If there was a crisis such as a car accident, she kept a very level head."

Mrs. Molloy died Wednesday in the hospice unit of Mercy Franciscan Hospital, Western Hills. She was 78.

She was born in Cincinnati in 1925, attended Holy Family School and graduated from Seton High School in 1943. In 1947, she earned a bachelor's degree in nursing from the College of Mount St. Joseph and Good Samaritan Hospital School of Nursing. While collecting blood for the Korean conflict at a VFW post, she met World War II veteran Thomas Molloy and they married in 1953.

Mrs. Molloy was chief nurse in labor and delivery at Good Samaritan hospital, and later was nursing supervisor of the newborn intensive care unit there.

"She ran the OB at Good Sam. She pioneered the LDR (Labor/Delivery/Recovery) room," said one of her daughters, Julie Williams of St. Louis, Mo. "She was a very determined person, very intelligent, strong, never complained. She always focused on things she could do something about. She lectured us on concentration."

Mrs. Molloy retired in 1982.

She was a founding member of the Sister Sebastian Shea Founder's Society, a member of the Good Samaritan Hospital Foundation, and she worked for the American Red Cross, where she taught mothering and baby care.

In 1996, she received the Sister Genevieve Clare Courtney award from the Sisters of Charity for her work with the Healthy Moms and Babes organization, which promoted prenatal care.

Other memberships included 25 years with St. Dominic Parish and 10 years with St. Jude Parish, the Delhi Swim Club and Rosie Reds. Her son said she loved baseball.

In addition to her husband of 50 years, her daughter, Julie, and son, Thomas, survivors include a brother, Col. Robert Downing of Price Hill; a sister, Sister of Charity Betty Downing of Mount St. Joseph; two other sons, Mark of Harrison, Ohio, and Stephen of Bridgetown; and two other daughters, Mary Eileen Molloy of Asheville, N.C., and Kit Concilus of Meadville, Pa; and 12 grandchildren.

Services were held. Interment was in the St. Joseph (new) Cemetery in Price Hill.

Memorials: Good Samaritan Foundation, 375 Dixmyth, Cincinnati, OH 45220 or the Hospice of Cincinnati, 4310 Cooper Road, Cincinnati, OH 45242.

E-mail: kandrew@enquirer.com.