By Rebecca Goodman
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Ms. Myers

Patricia A. Myers made a difference in the lives of children.

A social worker who spent more than 30 years helping abused children and their families, she died of complications from cancer Thursday at Hospice of Cincinnati in Blue Ash. The Hyde Park resident was 65.

"Pat really dedicated her working life to the care of children who had been abused," said Dr. Jan Borcherding, her companion of 18 years. "She also really played a big part - in Cincinnati as well as nationally - in the betterment around those issues."

Ms. Myers pioneered one of the country's first child-abuse teams in 1975. She also helped establish the Mayerson Center for Safe and Healthy Children, which opened in Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center in 2001.

In addition, she helped bring shaken-baby syndrome into the public eye by participating in research that showed brain injuries caused by abuse looked different than those caused by accidents.

Shaken-baby syndrome was unheard of until Ms. Myers and Dr. Elaine Billmire, former medical director of the Children's Hospital child-abuse team, analyzed records of children under age 1 who had head trauma. That changed after their work was published in the journal Pediatrics.

A licensed independent social worker, Ms. Myers became deeply involved in child-abuse cases when she worked for Hamilton County's welfare department in the late 1960s.

Although she was witness to much abuse, she discovered the difficulty in making a change for the victims. She found that doctors were reluctant to diagnose abuse because of the legal ramifications and hassles involved.

During her career, she earned a reputation as a driven advocate for children as well as someone who was dedicated to changing the system. On the outside, her style was no-nonsense and unemotional as she interviewed children and their parents. But it was her feelings for them that kept her going.

"Some think she was somehow resistant to the pain of working with those children and families," Dr. Borcherding said. "But her heart was in her work as well."

In the early 1970s, Ms. Myers became the social work director at the Convalescent Hospital for Children, which later merged with Children's Hospital. She and a small group of doctors and social workers established one of the country's first child-abuse teams.

She also served as clinical director of the social service department at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, as associate director of the child-abuse team and as an associate professor of pediatric field service at the University of Cincinnati.

In 2002 the Ohio Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers named her Social Worker of the Year.

In March, nearly 200 people attended "A Tribute to Pat Myers," hosted by Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.

Ms. Myers was born in Indianapolis in 1937. She received a bachelor's degree in social work from Ohio State University in 1959 and a master's in social work from OSU in 1971.

A year ago, she received a cancer diagnosis with a prognosis of 3-6 months. "Each one of her physicians added, 'On the other hand, it's you, Pat. If anyone is going to go beyond that time, it'll be you,' " Dr. Borcherding said.

She and her companion spent the last year traveling to favorite destinations. "I think the last weeks of her life really typified the way Pat lived," Dr. Borcherding said. "She had a tenacity for life and an ability to far exceed what anyone believed she could have done."

They returned from Venice just two weeks before Ms. Myers developed pneumonia. Three days before her death, she had a stroke.

"She ended up - after being transferred from the emergency room to hospice - still fighting to continue living," Dr. Borcherding said. Instead, "she died in my arms."

In addition to her companion, survivors include nieces and nephews.

A memorial service is 11 a.m. today at Jon Deitloff Funeral Centre, 4389 Spring Grove Ave.

Memorials: Patricia Myers Scholars, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, 3333 Burnet Ave., Mail Location 3008, Cincinnati 45229; O'Bryonville Animal Rescue, 1999 Madison Road, Cincinnati 45208; or Hospice of Cincinnati, c/o Bethesda Foundation, P.O. Box 633597, Cincinnati 45263-3597.

E-mail rgoodman@enquirer.com