We first moved into Pats property in 1991, after a few years we started to see Pat directly rather than the real estate. She was the hardest woman I have and will ever meet. For all the properties she had she never spent money unnesscecerly She got in an dug trenches into her late 50's early 60,s. Paying the rent to Pat was always a memory. Sitting in the front room while she smoked back to back cigarettes and a glass of brandy, I would always be there for 30 minutes or more, how's your mother? What are you doing? Pat would never dance around anything. Right to the point. "your looking fat! You need to lose weight!" haha we would talk politics and she would give me financial advice. She would ask about the house. She never put the rent up in exchange we repaired the property. Painting and tiling it. Sewer lines, you name it. She would tell me about other tenants, she never had a tenant in her property she didn't like. This was confirmed when I met a real estate friend of hers. He said to me, "Geeze you have been there 10 years. Pat must like you or you would be out." she was tough but fair. No topic was tabu. I only saw pat a week or so before she passed. I was deeply saddened to hear of her passing. I didn't find out about her death and funeral until days after by a real estate agent. I wish I could have been there to say goodbye. 22 years later we are still in same house, I drive past Pats place often and smile remembering something she told me.

Sadly, Pat was so rich, no friends have commented on her site. In addition, very few turned up at her funeral, despite the millions she had donated to charities, and the numerous people she had helped financially.

Pat Dukes had an amazing mind, and cruised the world before starting Sydney-based Pat Dukes Nurses Agency. She was a major player on the Australian bridge cicuit, and contributed huge sums to medical research across Australia. Her legacy, the Patricia Dukes Foundation, is being set up at this moment.

Many who knew Pat tell me they were scared of her. She definitely wasn't one to cross swords with, as her mind and vocabulary were razor sharp. She despised lies, deceit, and gossip. If she trusted you......you lived! Behind her harsh exterior, she supported many who suffered disasters (such as her tenants, her nurses). When she closed the agency, it was after a Lotto win, which she divided up amongst her nurses. She was proudly Australian, and extremely wise politically .