Veneziano Creates Opportunities for Future Students with Bequest

Patricia M. Veneziano ’75 says that she never had to seek a job. All of her opportunities came just when she needed to or was ready to make a change. She describes them as “happy accidents.” After receiving her BA in family, nutrition, and exercise sciences, Patricia enjoyed a 40-year career—first in food service management, then in retail advertising, then in retail sales of mortgages before retiring in 2015. “So much of my career has been a gift,” Patricia says.

In gratitude for all that she received as a student at QC, Patricia is giving back through a bequest in her will to the Queens College Foundation. “Making a gift to QC through a bequest in my will allows me to make a larger gift than I might otherwise be able to make in my lifetime,” she says. “I can use my ‘nest egg’ for my current and future needs and still leave a legacy of giving for the future of Queens College.”

Patricia grew up in Queens and was the first in her family to graduate college. In the 1970s, she says, “it was a different time as to what you should study and future job prospects as a woman.” She floundered a bit in her first semester; but once her godmother recommended food service as a course of study, she found her niche.

The Home Economics Department was rigorous, including the sciences like biochemistry. Patricia was involved in the Home Economics Club. However, she was taking 18 credits per semester and working full-time during her college years, which didn’t allow time for additional extra-curricular activities.

“Tuition was free during my time at QC,” Patricia says. “Making a planned gift is a way to give future students an opportunity to have what I had. I want to lighten the load of students, particularly those who are working outside of school like I did. Being able to alleviate the financial burden of future students will allow them to focus on their studies. I received so much, and I feel like it is a way to pay back.”

Patricia says she learned all the skills she needed in her various careers in the Home Economics Department. Her professors were strong, independent women who “knew their stuff” and taught their students these skills of critical thinking, strength, and independence. For each new career, she didn’t need to “reinvent” herself; instead she “took my skills and applied them to something else.”

She enjoyed a great camaraderie in the food classes—they cooked and served meals during events for family “guests” and for each other. But her most formative experience was a European Tour in 1973. She, along with eight other QC students (and four students from across the country), had the opportunity to travel across six European counties in what turned out to be a once-in-a-lifetime trip. Forty-six years later, these women have remained friends and cherish their shared memories.

Dr. Helen Volkman, retired Foods instructor in what is now the FNES Department, led the tour titled “Foods, Fashions, and Furnishings.” The six-week tour took the students through Italy, Switzerland, France (including cooking classes at Le Cordon Bleu), Denmark, and Sweden before ending up in London, England. The experience was an introduction to international travel for all the young women. It was a transformative experience with the perspective that comes with immersion in different cultures, cuisines, and histories.

Patricia encourages all friends of Queens College to consider the type of legacy they could leave to benefit the future of the school: “Give a gift to Queens College in gratitude for what you received.”