Janet Hart Mitchell, a la izquierda, y Patricia Jean Traviss, a la derecha. (Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy)
Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy, the all-girls Catholic high school in La Cañada Flintridge founded by the Dominican Sisters of Mission San Jose, announced this month that it has received more than $6 million in estate gifts from two alumnae.
On Jan. 15, the school reported a $1.6 million gift from the estate of Patricia Jean Traviss (Class of 1949). That announcement was followed Jan. 21 by news of a $5 million gift from the estate of Janet Hart Mitchell (Class of 1948).
After graduating from Flintridge Sacred Heart, Traviss earned a degree in event planning from Pasadena City College and studied interior design at Woodbury University. She later became director of Rockhaven Sanitarium in Glendale, taking over the facility from her grandmother.
Traviss, who died in 2023, was not married and had no children. Two of her sisters also attended Flintridge Sacred Heart, and one became a Dominican sister. Her gift will be divided between the school and ministries connected to the Dominican Sisters.
“Her generosity reflects a life rooted in prayer, service, and a belief in the dignity of every person,” said Sister Celeste Marie Botello, OP, congregational prioress. “Through her legacy, the mission entrusted to us will continue to flourish.”
Mitchell attended Flintridge Sacred Heart while living in Pasadena. After graduating and completing college, she married her husband, Glenn, an attorney, and later lived in Long Beach, where they raised two sons.
Her gift will support financial aid through the Stella and Louis Hart Scholarship Endowment Fund, named for her parents.
“By honoring her parents through scholarships, she has forever eased the burden for families and opened the doors of the Hill to young women she would never meet, yet in whom she deeply believed,” said Marlena Conroy, president of Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy.