Patricia Mae Gebura

Patricia grew up in Wichita, Kansas. Her grandfather’s violin was handed down to her via her aunt and thus was born a lifelong love of and commitment to music and violin performance. When she graduated second in her class from Wichita North High School in 1947, the Wichita Eagle newspaper gave her a full scholarship to attend Wichita State University. After graduating in 1951 with a Bachelor’s degree in music education, Patricia taught music in a small Colorado town until she entered the Graduate School of the University of Colorado at Boulder, earning a Master’s Degree in music in 1953. In 1953 she met her husband Stanley E. Gebura (Buffalo, NY) while on a camping trip with a college hiking group in the Rocky Mountains and they were married that year. Patricia loved the mountains and she cherished her times spent hiking there or simply gazing over the canyons at the distant mountain peaks.

After becoming a wife and mother she began a career teaching music. She chaired the string program in the Roxbury Township Public Schools (NJ) for 25 years. When she retired at age 62 she embraced a new career as grandmother, helping to raise her cherished granddaughter, Morgen. She loved animals and always had a pet dog or a cat by her side.

Patricia was passionate about both music and raising her daughters to be independent, educated and successful women in an era when there were many roadblocks to achieving these things for girls. Behind her charming smile and gentle persona were a strong sense of justice and a disciplined work ethic that gave her strength and perseverance. Through her unconditional love, sacrifice, kindness, and compassion for her children Patricia personified the idea of “mother.”

Patricia is survived by her beloved daughters Alice Gebura (Saint Paul, MN) and Karen Gebura (Morgan Hill, CA), son-in-law Harry Chalmiers (Saint Paul, MN), granddaughter Morgen Chalmiers (LaJolla, CA), sisters Mary Jane Miller (Fort Myers, FL) and Rosie Bolinger (Fort Wayne, IN), and brothers Joe Peach (Los Angeles, CA), and Gene Peach (Santa Fe, NM) and many nieces and nephews. She is predeceased by siblings Robert J. Peach, Jr., Betty Peach Maring, and Jerry Peach.

Memorial Service and Celebration of Life for Patricia Gebura will be:

Thursday June 1, 7pm

Venture Christian Church, Venue 2

16845 Hicks Road, Los Gatos, CA

http://venture.cc/

In lieu of flowers donations to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals are appreciated: https://www.aspca.org