For friends and family, a midwinter's morning reunion
Yesterday's inaugural was as much a family affair as a public event for Deval Patrick's many relatives -- especially his wife, who at times seemed to attract as much warmth and attention as her husband.
As she waited for her husband to descend the State House steps before yesterday's inaugural ceremony, Diane Patrick's eyes swept the crowd gathered before the stage. She waved to someone she knew. A hand rose from the crowd to wave back, then another. Suddenly dozens of waving hands popped up like dandelions.
Diane Patrick, a prominent Boston lawyer, played a key role during her husband's campaign. Yesterday, she held the historic Mendi Bible her husband used for his swearing-in.
Beside her sat their daughters, Katherine, 17, a student at St. Andrew's School, a boarding school in Delaware, and Sarah, 21, a student at New York University. The young women chose to keep a low profile during the campaign, but both planned to attend last night's ball.
Other family members who attended yesterday's ceremony included Rhonda Sigh, Patrick's sister -- who at one point in his speech dabbed at her eyes with a tissue -- and her husband, Bernard, both of Milton, and their grown children, Bianca and Brandon.
Diane Patrick's father, John Bemus of New York, also attended, as did her sister, Lynn Prime, and her husband, Reggie, who live near Atlanta, and their grown children, Rob and Ryan Chavis. Other close friends included William Speers , a friend of Patrick's since their days at Milton Academy; Preston and Sandi Hannibal ; and Betty Vorenberg, the widow of the former master of Dunster House, where Patrick lived when he was a Harvard undergraduate.
Diane Patrick was not by her husband's side when he was shaking hundreds of hands in a receiving line yesterday afternoon. But leaving the Hall of Flags after his swearing-in, she said the ceremony was wonderful.
"I'm very proud," Patrick said.
State House News contributed to this report. Lisa Wangsness can be reached at lwangsness@globe.com. 
