Patricia Seamount Gallagher

One of the most talented, passionate and vivacious women to ever live in Kern County recently ended her life’s journey with the recent passing of Patricia Seamount Gallagher, 68, who died from terminal illness at her home in Bodfish, with her husband Michael by her side.
Patricia was a gifted artist in many mediums: she painted in watercolor and also Old Master’s style oils; she had an angelic singing voice that gave joy and comfort to thousands of people over many decades of performing acoustic music; she played guitar and piano beautifully; she took great photos and she wrote well.
But her accomplishments weren’t limited to artistic expression – she was also a scientist and engineer. At NASA’s Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, she served as flight-controls engineer on the cutting-edge X31 program, helping to expand the flight envelope into high-angle-of-attack regimes and push the boundaries of aircraft maneuverability.
A licensed pilot, Pat brought her expertise, passion and steady leadership to the ambitious Perlan Project — a glider-flight mission co-founded by Steve Fossett and Einar Enevoldson — aiming to soar 50,000 feet into the stratosphere on mountain waves. Her role as project manager and engineer placed her at the heart of a bold expedition that combined human courage, scientific insight and aerospace innovation.
Her friend and colleague Roberta Piazza Gordon said this of Pat: “In every chapter of her career, Pat embodied curiosity, technical rigor and a spirit of “what’s next.” Whether calibrating flight-control laws on experimental jets or coordinating missions to glide toward the edge of space, she embraced challenges with intelligence and grace. Her legacy is one of both high altitude and high integrity.”
Pat loved the natural world and was an avid hiker, backpacker and explorer, and she also worked for years doing tortoise surveys and monitoring. Roberta Gordon added: “Pat’s life work was curiosity and wonder. In later years, she turned her keen eye for detail and deep respect for the natural world toward the desert she loved. She worked as a field biologist surveying the Mojave Desert for the endangered desert tortoise. With the same precision and determination that guided her aerospace work, her music and her art, she navigated the vast Mojave landscape. She tracked burrows, documented habitats, and contributed to vital conservation efforts that protect one of California’s most threatened species. For Pat, the shift from skies to sand was a graceful continuation of her lifelong calling to explore and understand the world around her.”
Pat was clearly a gifted and amazing woman with an abundance of skills. Her friends used to joke “When I grow up, I want to be Pat.”
Pat was born February 20, 1957 in Boise, Idaho, the daughter of Sydney David Seamount and Helen Eames Seamount. She had three brothers – Charles, Philip and Joseph – and the family moved often because Pat’s father was in the Air Force. The family ended up living in Boron when her father worked at Edwards AFB, and Pat graduated from Boron High in 1975.

She later graduated from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and became a flight engineer at NASA. She lived in California City and then in Tehachapi. She became well-known in Tehachapi for her musical performances as part of the band Handmade, as well as for her beautiful paintings. Pat also loved cooking and gardening, and she minored in dance in college. She was the stellar epitome of a well-rounded person.
Pat married mandolin player Michael Gallagher on August 3, 2005, and moved to a cozy home in Bodfish Canyon. During her two decades in the Kern Valley area, Pat and Michael performed in the band Out of the Blue, with Terry Harris on dobro and Kris Wilbur, who is married to Pat’s brother Charles, playing standup base.
Out of the Blue was one of the Kern County’s best folk and acoustic bands, and they played for many different gatherings and events.
Pat Seamount Gallagher was an amazing Renaissance woman who inspired and touched countless others. She was a blessing to Kern County, and a source of wonder and pride to her many loved ones.
She is survived by her husband Michael and stepson Gram; her brothers Charles, Phillip and Joseph; and nieces and nephews Charles Jr., John, Jessica, Alexander, Joshua and Jennifer.
A Celebration of Life for Pat will be held on Saturday, November 15 at the Pine Cone Inn at 13383 Sierra Way in Kernville, beginning at noon. Friends are welcome to come exchange memories and stories about this exemplary woman.