Pat Habicht

Pat Habicht born in London, England in 1933 to Hugh and Rene Hinxman, died in Taos, New Mexico on July 10, 2023 utilizing the New Mexico End-of-Life Options Act. Pat married Jean-Pierre Habicht in England in 1959 with whom they had three children Heidi (1962, Zurich), Christopher (1964, Boston), and Oliver (1967-2020, Guatemala City). Pat had a brother Gerald who predeceased her.  

Pat loved to travel, enjoyed learning about other cultures and making life-long friends.  After training as a physical education teacher in England and teaching there, she traveled by ship at age 23 to Canada where she continued teaching.  From there, she continued in her wanderlust to western Canada, the United States and Mexico where she met Jean-Pierre while digging latrines in San Salvador El Verde. In her life, she visited 52 countries and lived for more than 6 months in 7 countries. She raised children in Switzerland, Guatemala, and various places in the United States,  learning  languages along the way and taking advantage of opportunities to learn about cultures and enjoy recreation and traveling to exotic locations.

Pat was an independent person who was not afraid to set new courses in life.  After a family life where she saw all the children off to college, she decided to "find Pat" by moving to New Mexico in 1987 to start a new chapter.  Here she helped build one of the first Earthships and co-designed and built a second one.  She used her knowledge and houses to provide interested people with education and an opportunity to test drive one of the houses. She also became a contractor for Earthships. She hosted her two English nephews (Quintin and Tristan) building Earthships for a summer each - a treasured experience for all. She later designed her forever house at Plaza de Retiro in Taos, where she spent her last 22 years. She attended all of her grandchildren's births (Elizabeth, Peter, Karen, and Cadence), and enjoyed visiting with all of her children's families, whether in New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island, Alaska, or some faraway vacation spot.  Although she never saw herself as an artist, she created artworks in multiple media including paper, paint, wood, pottery, and textiles. She also gave back to people by volunteering at Community Against Violence during their early years (for 10 years) and Hospice (for 10 years) and was a charter member (1974) of the Progresa Guatemala Friends Scholarship Fund, a Quaker organization which supports education for indigenous Guatemalans.  She was a pioneer until the end, when she chose the place, time, and method to die.

In lieu of flowers, please send donations in memory of Pat to the Progresa Guatemala Friends Scholarship Fund (www.guatemalafriends.org).hare a memory, please visit our website at www.riverafuneralhome.com