Patricia Marie Garcia

Daughter. Sister. Wife. Mother. Grandmother. Great Grandmother. Teacher. Friend.

Whatever role Patricia Garcia embraced, she did it nobly and with a smile. She assumed the role of angel on March 26, 2023, after a brief illness.

Patricia Marie Hofman was born on February 12, 1943, to Margaret and Lewis Hofman in Binghamton, New York. The family moved west to California, arriving shortly after Pat turned 3. The family lived in a few different places around the Los Angeles area, but it was while they were living in Burbank and Pat was attending Bellarmine-Jefferson High School that she would meet Tom Garcia.

Pat and Tom would date through high school, even though they attended different Catholic high schools, until her parents moved the family to San Diego during her senior year. But the long-distance romance endured through letter writing, phone calls and occasional visits.

Pat would graduate from The Academy of Our Lady of Peace (high school) and continue her education at the San Diego College for Women (now the University of San Diego), graduating in 1965. Just a year after graduating, Pat and Tom married in San Diego. They honeymooned by driving across the country back to Tom’s Army base in Columbia, South Carolina.

In April 1967, as Tom was discharged, Pat and Tom moved back to California to the Garcia home in Los Angeles. A month later, their first son, John, was born. Then, a year later, Mark was born, completing the family. (Although Pat did laugh at the doctor who asked what happened to Luke and Matthew.)

While living in Los Angeles, Pat was a teacher at St. Dominic School in Eagle Rock. In 1972, the family moved to La Mirada and Pat spent a couple of years teaching at Beatitudes of Our Lord School. She then moved on (along with her sons) to St. Benedict School in Montebello.

But when Tom was offered a job in San Diego in 1978, the decision to move was easy because Pat's parents and other family members lived in the area. They landed in Lakeside and Pat took a year off from teaching (but not tutoring) before taking a position at St. Patrick's in North Park, just a few miles from Tom's office. It also would be less than a mile from the high school that John and Mark would end up attending.

But after years of making the more than 40-mile roundtrip drive, she accepted a contract at her parish school, Our Lady of Perpetual Help. Retirement was not a word she enjoyed, so she transitioned from teaching to working in the school’s library until the school closed in 2012. Still wanting to help, she tutored and helped out at St Kieran's Catholic School in El Cajon.

In her spare time (yes, she had some), she enjoyed genealogy, tracing the family trees of her Hofman decedents but more so the Garcias. Once Tom retired, they traveled, crossing the country more than once and visiting family members along the way.

Always the teacher, Pat co-taught Confraternity of Christian Doctrine with Tom and they both served as Eucharistic Ministers at Our Lady of Perpetual Help.

Pat is survived by her son, John (Laura), of Reseda; her son, Mark (Janna), of Carlsbad; her grandsons Tim Garcia, Drew Garcia and Hunter Trammell (Ceri); her granddaughters Lexi (Steven) Roa, Grace (Cory) Cunningham, Angelina Garcia and Monica Garcia; great-grandchildren Murphy and Huw Trammell.

Rosary and Funeral Mass will be held April 13 at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church in Lakeside, California, starting at 9 a.m. Committal Service will follow at Miramar National Cemetery.

Instead of flowers, the family requests donations to your favorite Catholic school or Catholic school teacher.

A rosary service for Patricia will be held Thursday, April 13, 2023 from 9:00 AM to 9:30 AM at Our Mother of Perpetual help Church, 13208 Lakeshore Dr, Lakeside, CA 92040. A funeral service will occur Thursday, April 13, 2023 from 9:30 AM to 10:15 AM, 13028 Lakeshore Dr, Lakeside, CA 92040. A graveside service will occur Thursday, April 13, 2023 from 11:15 AM to 11:45 AM at Miramar National Cemetery, Miramar National Cemetery, 5795 Nobel Dr, San Diego, CA 92122.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.elcajonmortuary.com for the Garcia family.