But church-going Patricia also had a huge secret - her older half-sister was the chatshow host Oprah Winfrey.
The 47-year-old discovered her famous relative while looking into her family background, after being given up for adoption shortly after her birth in 1963.
And in a remarkable example of selflessness she chose not to go public with her discovery, for fear of hurting her half-sister's career.
'Yes, it is true,' Winfrey told the audience. 'It is true that my mother is also Patricia's birth mother. That means Patricia is my half sister who I never knew existed.'
Winfrey, 56, has now met up with her half-sister, whose surname has not been released, and the two have been reunited with their mother for the first time as adults.
Winfrey said she felt impressed that Patricia, from Milwaukee, had kept secret the fact that she was related to the star for three years, for fear of hurting her reputation.
She told Patricia: 'I had to meet you because I wanted to meet somebody who had that kind of character. So thank you. Thank you.'
Oprah's mother Vernita had three other child, Pat and Jeffrey, both deceased, and Patricia, who was given up for adoption weeks after her birth
Miss Lee put the child up for adoption because she wanted to get off welfare and knew that if she had another child it might not be possible.
Patricia had a difficult childhood, telling Winfrey: 'I was put up for adoption at birth, and I was left in the hospital for about a month.
'I lived in foster homes until age seven. It wasn't easy for me growing up in foster homes. I've had some good foster homes, and I had some that were not so good, so it had its challenges.'
Winfrey said that at the time of her sister's birth she was eight and living with her father, and did not even know her mother was pregnant.
Winfrey told how Patricia had been trying to identify her mother for years until she saw Miss Lee in a TV interview mention details that coincided with what she knew of her birth family, and the penny dropped.
Patricia kept the revelation to herself for three years, before finally getting in contact with Winfrey's niece, which led to Winfrey confronting her mother.
DNA tests confirmed that Patricia was an 85 per cent match to Winfrey’s niece Alisha, the daughter of the first Winfrey sister, also named Patricia, who died in 2003.
The revelation is the latest in the saga of Winfrey’s complicated and fraught life story, which has included childhood abuse, teenage pregnancy and rumours of lesbianism.
After more than two decades on TV, Winfrey is now one of the most successful women in the world with a fortune estimated at $2.7billion (£1.69billion).
Prior to revealing her big secret Oprah showed video of her and her partner, Steadman Graham, driving to Milwaukee to meet Patricia for the first time on Thanksgiving Day last year.
Patricia, who did not reveal her last name, said she started thinking that Oprah might be her sister when she saw an interview with Miss Lee on television.
The information Lee gave coincided with what she already knew about her birth family.
'Her mother said that two of children had passed away, and I knew from my records that I had two siblings who passed away,' said Patricia.
'She said one was named Patricia and one was Jeffrey
'The hairs on the back of my neck stood up, because I knew that one of my siblings and I shared the same name.'
'I said no, that can't be,' Patricia said.
She said she tried to track down Lee, but was told that her mother was not interested in meeting her.
She then emailed Winfrey, but her email was dismissed as a fraud and never passed onto the star.
Patricia kept her revelation secret, aware that it might 'hurt' her sister to find out about her.
But eventually she met Oprah's niece who immediately recognised the family resemblance.
DNA tests proved the family connection and this led to Oprah confronting her mother, who confirmed that Patricia was her half sister.
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