Patricia "Patti" Joan Saltzman

Born Patricia Joan (“Jo-Ann”) Flaherty to Gladys Jeannette and Francis Myron Flaherty, on April 2, 1955, Patti was a gifted musician from the beginning. Her older sister Kathy remembers that as a baby lying in her yellow bassinet, Patti could be heard whistling or humming, long before she could walk or talk. Before she was in school, she could pick out tunes by ear on the piano. One day she accompanied Kathy to a piano lesson, and played one of her by-ear pieces for the teacher, and got herself signed up for piano lessons before she could even read.

The bond that grew between the two sisters was incredible. The family has this great picture of 4-year old Kathy carefully propped up in an overstuffed chair holding 6-month old Patti in her lap, both of them smiling at each other. Several years later, Kathy came home from school one day in tears, having encountered some bullies on the way. In just a few moments, 4-year-old Patti was heading down the front walk with a baseball bat. She was going to get those boys—nobody was going to mess with her sister! All their lives, they took care of each other. They played together, worked together, laughed together, cried together and made great music together. When either one was in trouble or in need, their first call was to the other one. Whatever happened, they knew that together they would deal with it.

During her early life, Patti sang in church choirs and school choirs, played the French horn in the school band, and learned to play guitar as well as the piano. Four years after her father died of cancer, she, her sister, and their mother moved out to the country to join the girls’ grandmother Gunda and their mother’s brother Uncle Ted. The five of them made a family together, Granny and Uncle Ted providing a wonderful, loving, and grounding extension to the family. Patti discovered she enjoyed the open landscape and the wildflowers in the country, and occasionally ran through the snow barefoot. She loved riding horses and helping to put up hay.

Patti really enjoyed her high school years, especially the church youth group, establishing friendships that have lasted her whole life. She graduated from Kiowa High School in 1973, then went to Hastings college in Hastings, Nebraska, earning a degree in Vocal Music in 1977. She taught general music in Kansas and in Elizabeth, Colorado and had many private music students all her life. She sang for Churches, Weddings, Funerals, Community Events, Talent Shows, and concerts in many places as far back as we can remember. A fan of Sandy Patti, Whitney Houston, Barbara Streisand, and Billie Holiday, to name just a few, Patti could sing any kind of music, from classical to country, church music to pop. The music clearly came from deep in her soul. As her voice matured, it developed into this rich, expressive mezzo soprano that could melt your heart. She seemed to have a special gift for music with a Jazz or blues flavor; pieces like Tommy Dorsey’s “Precious Lord Take My Hand,” George Gershwin’s “Summertime,” or Billie Holiday’s “God Bless the Child.”

Always generous, Patti willingly shared her house and her love with those who needed it, and had a number of different roommates over the years. One of them was Karla, a woman who became a kind of second sister to her. While they were together, Karla gave birth to a beautiful little girl named Sarah, who immediately became part of Patti’s family too. Patti helped care for Sarah, and later her two brothers and children of other friends as well. Sarah remembers all the times Patti was there for her and her family. She also recalls with a smile the stock of Pop sickles for neighborhood kids in Patti’s freezer, trips to the movies, Elitches, and Disney world. They have stayed close all their lives, and Sarah still calls Patti her second Mom.

Still regularly involved in music, in her 30’s Patti also felt a call to become a paramedic. She was compassionate and skilled at that too, and worked in the field for 20 years. Along the way, she met David Saltzman, who was working as a mechanic on the ambulances she drove. At 45, Patti was not thinking about marriage, but something clicked between the two of them and she began to rethink her single life.

Dave, also a musician, says he knew she was the one for him the first time he heard her sing. They were married on October 7, 2000. During the ceremony, they sang part of their vows to each other; Dave sang “More than the Greatest Love” from the movie Mondo Cane to Patti and she sang Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” to him. Patti quickly extended that love to Dave’s children, and later grandchildren, and enjoyed every minute she was able to share with them. She and Dave discovered they made great duet partners as well, and offered several joint concerts. When Patti died, they had been together 24 years.

When she left her paramedic job, Patti transitioned to a job as office staff in a medical clinic, a job she also loved. About the same time, she created a team of family and medical professionals that took care of her parents Ted and Glady at home here in Kiowa until their deaths. After they were gone, she and Dave moved into Ted and Glady’s house, and have been there ever since.

Patti and Kathy, Kathy now working as Director of Music at Christ’s Episcopal Church in Castle Rock, continued to collaborate whenever they could, joining forces for cantatas, fund raisers, and concerts at both churches as well as other places. At the party celebrating Kathy’s twenty-fifth year at Christ’s Church, as her gift, Patti sang to her. She chose “You and Me Against the World.” A perfect choice.

When Patti was first diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer several years ago, she was very upbeat, determined not to let the cancer prevent her from living her life and enjoying the music and people she loved. So in spite of surgeries, chemo, and seemingly endless doctor appointments, she kept working, stayed involved with her community and her friends, and remained active as a church musician. A skilled choir director as well as a gifted soloist, she had always found ways to get amazing music out of a group of local volunteers and she continued to do so. She did well for several years. But the last few months, as the cancer was slowly eating away at her strength and energy, she cut her hours at the clinic, finally quitting altogether, even though it was a job she loved. She said she wanted to use the time and energy she had to focus on her music, and of course her beloved church choir.

But the cancer had spread far more than any of us knew, and finally Patti’s body could no longer sustain her. She died gently and peacefully at Skyridge hospital on Sunday, December 1, 2024. She took her last breath at 3:37pm that day, surrounded by loving family and friends. We all will miss her very much. We invite all of you here today to help us honor Patti and her life-long love of music by singing with us several of her favorite hymns, remembering her smile, her love, and her beautiful voice. She, of course, is singing with the angels today.

A funeral service for Patti will be held Saturday, December 7, 2024 at 11:00 AM at Kiowa Creek Community Church, 231 Cheyenne St, Kiowa, Colorado 80117. Following the funeral service will be a committal service at 2:00 PM at Elizabeth Cemetery, 598 W Kiowa Ave, Elizabeth, Colorado 80107.

Serving as pallbearers are Dave Ehmann, Eric Whitman, Rick McKnight, Mike Young, Jon Surbeck and JT Brown.

In lieu of flowers, contributions in Patti's memory may be made to Kiowa Creek Community Church, 231 Cheyenne St, Kiowa, Colorado 80117.