If Harry and Margaret Stone had decided that 14 children were enough,
then Patricia Lou Stone would not have been born their 15th and youngest
child on January 9th, 1935, in Springfield Township, Akron, Ohio.
Just before sunrise on July 9th, when the sky was still almost white with a
billion twinkling stars, Patricia passed peacefully into the arms of our Lord.
Her childhood was influenced by the depression years and WWII.
Following the passing of her father when she was just 14, she moved to
Hudson where her mother grew up. Patricia graduated from Hudson High
School in 1953. She was both Head Majorette and Homecoming Queen,
and she stayed in contact with her small graduating class and attended
reunions up until the 50th in 2003.
Patricia graduated top in her class at secretarial school and went to work
for Goodyear Tire and Rubber in Akron. She met and married her first
husband, Myron Mudurian, and together they lovingly raised 4 daughters,
all 2 years apart in age: Michelle, Deidra, Karen, and Mikala. She was an
extraordinary mom, fun, creative, supportive, and dedicated. When the
girls were young, they moved from Goodyear Heights to Hudson, and a
third generation of her family attended school there.
With such a large family, thanksgivings and summer picnics had to be held
in rented lodges and pavilions, where all of the brothers, sisters, aunts,
uncles, and cousins would gather for fun and tables groaning with
homemade food. Patricia’s pies and potato salad were always the best!
In the late 70’s, Patricia divorced and started a new career with SK
Wellman in Bedford, Ohio. It was here that she met the love of her life and
husband of 41 years, Gary TeStruth. They loved each other so much, they
married twice- first at their cosy home in Cleveland in 1983, and again at
Christmas in Lake Tahoe in 1993 with all her daughters attending.
Marrying Gary introduced a new family to her life, Gary’s brother Craig
and his wife Nora, sister Lynette and brother Kurt, She also loved and
was proud of Gary’s niece and nephew Elisa and Ryan, and their families.
In 1983 they relocated from Ohio to California, where Gary started work
for Coherent Lasers and Patricia began her career at Nasa-Ames
Research Center’s Flight Simulation Division. Together they had an
adventurous and full life that included flying around California and the USA
in Gary’s beloved Piper Cherokee named Juliet, sailing in their handmade
boat Pegasus, scuba diving, yachting in the Caribbean, traveling
throughout Europe, hiking, camping, and generally keeping a packed
schedule of activities and family gatherings. She broke her foot twice,
once jumping out of an airplane, and once falling down the steps of a
Moscow subway. Patricia and Gary attended 4 Space Shuttle launches at
Kennedy Space Canter, once travelling for days in a Greyhound bus to
get there.
Patricia loved the arts, especially opera and theatre, and was an avid
Giants fan. She was a skilled writer, attending Ursuline College in Pepper
Pike, Ohio to study Creative Writing, where she was a favorite of course
instructor Brother Flannigan.
She was most happy when she was with Gary, her ‘girls’ and their
partners, Jeff, Richard, Aleksander, and Dan, her grandchildren Cassidy
and husband John, Matthew and wife Lydia, and Alex, and great-grandchildren Logan and Ahsoka.
She also loved cats, patiently rescuing many from the streets of San Jose
(and a woodpile next to her house in the mountains). He tender loving
care was a testament to her compassion, both for animals and people.
Gary and Patricia retired from busy San Jose to bucolic Yosemite Lakes
Park in the Sierra Nevada foothills. Here, in her last years when she was
immobile, she could see deer, hummingbirds, wild turkeys, rabbits, and
quail through the patio window from the comfort of her living room.
Patricia’s passing leaves a hole in our lives, but that hole will eventually
be filled with all of the amazing memories we have of her smiling, laughing,
crying (at everything!), her wit, her beauty, and her love.
Her grandsons Samuel and Issac preceded her and came to guide her on
her new journey, which is why she left this world with a smile on her face.
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