BRATTLEBORO - Patti Marie Howe French, 70, died at home surrounded by family on January 30, following a period of declining health.  
Patti was born to Eleanor and Kenneth Howe on April 23, 1953, in Brattleboro.  In 1972, she married the love of her life, Lester French, and started married life as a Navy wife.  Patti settled into life in Groton, CT, until 1977 when they departed the Navy and returned to Vermont, a few miles away in Whitingham.