Former Deputy County Executive Patricia (Franckewitz) Harrison was a pathbreaker in Fairfax County Government. She worked her way from Recreation Specialist (1986) to her appointment as the county’s first woman director of Community and Recreation Services (1999), before serving eight years as the Deputy County Executive for Health and Human Services.

Harrison supervised a wide variety of programs in her tenure, including Department of Administration for Human Services; Department of Systems Management for Human Services; Health Department; Department of Community and Recreation Services; Department of Housing and Community Development; Department of Family Services; Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court Services; Fairfax-Falls Church Community Services Board; and the Office to Prevent and End Homelessness.

Harrison, who earned a master’s degree in recreation from the University of Maryland and a bachelor’s degree in recreation from Slippery Rock State University, retired from the county in 2018. Because of her significant impact in therapeutic recreation, NCS dedicated the Sensory Room at Providence Community Center to her.

Harrison led HHS as it weathered the recession. Nonetheless, the county avoided cutting services and maintained a robust system to meet the needs of families, Harrison said in a video upon her retirement. Among the achievements: Bonds for the construction of two new community centers and the One Fairfax policy were approved in the year prior to Harrison’s retirement.

“I feel good about playing a role in the contributions to HHS,” Harrison said in the video. “It took teamwork and contributions from all members of the HHS system. I can only hope my leadership leaves a legacy of creativity and innovation.”

This story is part of NCS Stories - an initiative to preserve and share stories of the persons, places and events that shaped the Fairfax County Department of Neighborhood and Community Services.