Patricia "Pat" Merbreier (July 12, 1924 – June 23, 2011) was an American

television personality Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group as a result of the attention given to them by mass media. An individual may attain a celebrity status from having great wealth, their participation in sports ...

and

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

. She was best known for playing Mrs. Noah on the

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

-based

WPVI WPVI-TV (channel 6), branded on-air as 6 ABC, is a television station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, airing programming from the ABC network. Owned and operated by the network's ABC Owned Television Stations division, the station ...

syndicated children's program, ''

Captain Noah and His Magical Ark ''Captain Noah and His Magical Ark'' was a television program for children and was generally broadcast around the Philadelphia area. The series aired from 1967 to 1994. It was filmed and produced at the WPVI-TV, Channel 6 (then called WFIL when ...

'', for approximately 3,600 episodes between 1967 and 1994. Her real life husband, W. Carter Merbreier, who played Captain Noah, created and co-hosted the show. Born Patricia Bosley, she majored in vocal studies at Oberlin College. she began singing opera in Cleveland, Ohio in 1946. Merbreier switched to roles in

television commercial A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...

s as television gained popularity. She also worked as an "industrial show

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values t ...

" and a

model A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a measure. Models c ...

, according to an article published by the ''

Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Penns ...

'' in 1975. Merbreier's husband, W. Carter Merbreier, an ordained

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

minister, created ''

'' in 1967 in conjunction with the Philadelphia Council of Churches. It initially started as a religious program, but switched to a children's television format in 1970. Pat Merbreier co-hosted the show as Mrs. Noah alongside her husband from 1967 to 1994. In addition to co-hosting the series as "Mrs. Noah", she also acted as the show's chief puppeteer. Funding for the original puppeteer's

salary A salary is a form of periodic payment from an employer to an employee, which may be specified in an employment contract. It is contrasted with piece wages, where each job, hour or other unit is paid separately, rather than on a periodic basis. F ...

ran out during the show's 13th week on-air, so Pat Merbreier took over the role. Some of her more well known puppets included Maurice the Mouse, Mumwup the Monster and Wally the

Walrus The walrus (''Odobenus rosmarus'') is a large flippered marine mammal with a discontinuous distribution about the North Pole in the Arctic Ocean and subarctic seas of the Northern Hemisphere. The walrus is the only living species in the fami ...

. The show was syndicated and broadcast to television stations in twenty-two

media market A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area (DMA), television market area, or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same (or similar) television and radio station offerings, and may also incl ...

nationwide at its peak popularity. Numerous celebrities appeared opposite Merbreier during the course of the show, including Jon Stewart,

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

Jim Henson James Maury Henson (September 24, 1936 – May 16, 1990) was an American puppeteer, animator, cartoonist, actor, inventor, and filmmaker who achieved worldwide notice as the creator of The Muppets and '' Fraggle Rock'' (1983–1987) and ...

Charles Barkley Charles Wade Barkley (born February 20, 1963) is an American former professional basketball player who is a television analyst on NBA on TNT, TNT. Nicknamed "Sir Charles", "Chuck", and "the Round Mound of Rebound", Barkley played 16 seasons ...

and the

Philly Phanatic The Phillie Phanatic is the official mascot for the Philadelphia Phillies Major League Baseball team. He is a large, furry, green flightless bird with an extendable tongue. He performs various routines to entertain fans during baseball games at C ...

, who was introduced to the public on the Captain Noah show in April 1978. The Merbreiers decided to retire and end the show in 1994. Patricia Merbreier was a member of the Philadelphia Broadcast Pioneers Hall of Fame. In 2001, the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia jointly honored W. Carter and Patricia Merbreier as their "Persons of the Year". Both insisted that their names be listed as Captain Noah and Mrs. Noah on their award.

Death

She died at her home at the Shannondell in Audubon, Pennsylvania, after a long illness, on June 23, 2011, aged 86. Her funeral and burial was held at the St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church in Ardmore. She was survived by her husband, W. Carter Merbreier and their daughter, Pam Cowie, as well as two granddaughters and four great-grandchildren.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Merbreier, Patricia 1924 births 2011 deaths American women singers American opera singers American television actresses American puppeteers Oberlin College alumni People from Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania Place of birth missing Singers from Pennsylvania Classical musicians from Pennsylvania 21st-century American women