Sybil Tyrrell Patten died Saturday, March 14, 2026. She was born on April 8, 1937, in Philadelphia, PA to David Christie Tyrrell and Katherine Sample Tyrrell.
A memorial service will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, March 25, 2026, at St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral. Officiating will be the Very Rev. Alston Johnson, the Dean of the Cathedral. Inurnment will be in the cathedral’s columbarium. A reception will follow in the parish hall.
Sybil was preceded in death by her husband, J. Frederick Patten, her parents, her brother, David Christie Tyrrell Jr., and her son, Geoffrey Tyrrell Jenkins. She is survived by her son, Oliver Geoffrey Jenkins and wife Anne Selber; her brother William S. Tyrrell and wife Marie of Washington, D.C.; her daughter-in-law, Andra Jenkins; three grandchildren, Arthur Tyrrell Jenkins, Frances North Jenkins, and Caspar Davis Jenkins.
Sybil attended Broadmoor Junior High and Byrd High School. After graduation, she went to Hollins College and received her undergraduate degree in Psychology from Sophie Newcomb College (Tulane University).
After college, she moved to San Francisco to work in a research lab and to explore new horizons. There she met her first husband and started a family. Always eager to broaden her sons’ exposure, she enrolled them in the French American Bilingual School and engaged them in a variety of cultural pursuits. It was in California that she developed an enduring passion for snow skiing and tennis; two activities she continued well into her 80s. During her twenty years out west, she made life-long friends both in the city and at Lake Tahoe, her much adored second home.
In 1980, Sybil married Fred and returned to Shreveport where she immediately immersed herself in the cultural, philanthropic and social life of the city. A consummate fundraiser and true patron of the arts, she served on many boards to include the Shreveport Symphony from 1980-2010, as President for two and a half years; the Shreveport-Bossier Opera Board and Guild since 1990, as President from 2003-2005; the National Symphony Board; the LSUS Foundation; and the LSUS Health Science Foundation. In 2006, Sybil and Fred were honored as Pilots of the Year for the LSUS Foundation and endowed an undergraduate scholarship and a professorship for Excellence in Teaching in Liberal Arts. In 2020, she was honored as the Junior League of Shreveport-Bossier’s sustainer of the year.
Sybil was a founding member of the Shreveport Garden Study Club, a member of the Cotillion Club and its Queen in 1957, the Shreveport Club, the Demoiselle Club, the St. Francis Yacht Club, the Colonial Dames and numerous tennis clubs. A music enthusiast, she started and devoted many hours to the Musicale, further enriching the cultural fabric of Shreveport.
Sybil was a legendary traveler; a penchant passed down from her mother, visiting more than a hundred countries and every state. However, when home, there was nothing she enjoyed more than entertaining and visiting with her family and countless friends of all ages.
Sybil was “such a dynamic and irrepressible force for good things” in our community and she will be sorely missed by many.
The family extends its heartfelt thanks to Dr. Richard Michael and her primary caregiver, Deborah Johnson, as well as her devoted secretary Donna Burns.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Shreveport Opera, Shreveport Symphony, St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral or a Shreveport charity of the donor’s choice.