Patricia Charlotte Bauer left our world on February 28th, ironically on her 92nd birthday. Of course. She left us all in a better place because of her compassion, vision, and empathy. Patricia leaves behind family members and friends (“Friends are relatives that you make for yourself.”-Eustace Deschamps) and considered herself very fortunate indeed that those two groups were quite often one and the same. She also leaves behind the most current issue of The New Yorker and the NY Times Book Review.
Patricia was, in addition to being an avid reader, an enthusiastic lover of all things art, architecture, etiquette, fashion, golf, and the cultured and civilized parts of History. She loved a good celebration, and was never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream. Her golfing group played weekly at different courses for over forty years, and the Oh so important in her life Birthday Group of Friends have gathered regularly for over fifty years. Pat loved a good celebration and was the Queen of Poignant and Optimistic Quotes©, handwritten in her distinctive style with purple ink on beautiful and often hand-painted cards. She would have preferred to live in Victorian or Edwardian times-but with all of today’s modern conveniences.
Patricia was the oldest daughter of Donald Edward Stafford and Wilhelmina Gronosky and was predeceased by her parents, her sister Joan Cotton, and her nephew Gary Cotton. Her youngest sister, Rosemary L’Italien (Richard) resides in Chevy Chase, Md. Patricia and her first husband Rocco raised two children, Marcia Calicchia of Albany, NY, and Mark Calicchia of Mount Morris, NY. [“There are two lasting gifts we can give our children-one is roots, and the other is wings.”] She enjoyed traveling, visiting museums and galleries, and engaging in many fun-filled activities with her second husband, Charles Bauer, who tragically died way too early in life. Pat always believed in surrounding herself with younger folks in keeping that joie de vivre spirit alive. “How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are?”-Satchel Paige
In keeping with her wishes, no funeral services are planned at this time. Not a fan of Winter, she traditionally celebrated her birthday during the Summer, “When the rain never falls till after sundown”. A remembrance of her Moments in Time will be held– in Camelot– at a future date. Memorials may be made to the Arts organization of your choice, or the American Cancer Society. “We don’t stop playing because we’re old, we grow old because we stop playing.”-George Bernard Shaw “Count your age by friends not years, count your life by smiles not tears.”- John Lennon