Obituary for Patricia L "Pat" Flaherty
Funeral Mass for Patricia L. “Pat” Flaherty, 78, of Mentor, will be 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 27, 2023, at St. Bede the Venerable Church, 9114 Lakeshore Blvd., Mentor. Family will receive friends one hour prior to the Mass.
Patricia passed away at her home Friday, Dec. 23, 2022, surrounded by her loving husband and four children.
She was born June 13, 1944, in Cleveland, to the late Richard Brown and Ruth (nee Schneider) Brown.
Pat attended Miami University and graduated from Cleveland State with a degree in social work. She made an impact on many children whom she mentored and placed in foster homes. After her social work career, she continued to work with children by founding and teaching at Delightful Day Preschool, which has operated within St. Bede the Venerable Church in Mentor for more than 40 years.
Despite the many lives Pat touched as a social worker and pre-school leader before she turned 30 years old, she transitioned into the role she relished the most with the birth of her first daughter, Colleen in 1972. And this role could best be described as “mother to all.” Her primary job involved raising her four kids, and she was the best of the best at this. Pat was a loving mother, whose passion for her kids’ happiness and well-being was above and beyond the passion she had for her own well-being. This selflessness extended to not only her kids and relatives, but to her kids’ friends, her neighbors, her own friends, and even door-to-door advertisers, who would sometimes come just to talk to Pat and forget about the product, service or religion for which they had visited to promote in the first place.
Whatever “free-time” she gained through being a “stay-home mother,” she mostly returned to the community through volunteering at school events, sporting events, food pantries, free babysitting/after-school care, or transporting neighbors and friends to doctor’s appointments or grocery shopping trips. It goes without saying that she cared for and supported her kids’ friends as if they were hers as well. There were almost always more of her children’s friends in the house than her own children throughout the years of 1989-1993 and 1995-2002. Regardless of the appetites and emotions accompanying this abundance of teenagers, there was always enough food and goodwill to go around thanks predominantly to Pat. Pat cherished those years and reminisced often about the laughs, conversations, and parties that filled the modest-sized ranch at 6195 Hopkins Road. Indeed, Pat made sure that the lofty quote hanging above the entrance to her family room was a way of life in her household: “May our house always be too small to hold our friends.”
Pat was blessed with 11 grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren. She spent much of the latter two decades of her life babysitting and visiting with her grandkids. She traveled all over the country for their sporting events and other important milestones, or transported them all over the city if they needed a ride to practice, rehearsal, or even just school. No occasion was too small for celebration, no event too far away to make an extraordinary effort to attend.
Pat loved spending time with the people she loved, or even the people who simply needed her time. She watched her favorite Cleveland team, the Cavaliers win the 2016 NBA championship as the whole family was gathered together in Ocean City, N.J. She took a cruise with her sister-in-law, nieces, daughters, and other relatives dubbed the “girls just wanna have fun” cruise. She toured the Napa Valley wineries with her daughters and danced to the many great bands at the Geauga County Wineries. But with equal passion, she helped ensure that her neighbors, longtime friends/acquaintances, and family members were well taken care of in their final years. Few, if any activities, however, brought her more joy than regular lunch dates with her dear sister and best friend, Cindy.
She is survived by her husband of 56 years, William “Bill” “Flash” Flaherty, whom she married Nov. 24, 1966; children, Colleen (Chip) Ebert of Riverview, Fla., Alyson (Carl) Dondorfer of Concord Township, Ryan (Christina Mueller) Flaherty of Ann Arbor, Mich., and Melissa (Kevin) Jenkins of Mentor; sister, Cynthia (Ted) Johns of Richmond Heights; grandchildren, Jarryd (Carrie), Jeremy (Erin), Jordyn (Ricky), Zach, Mallory, Carley, Kellen, Liam, Anna, Myrna and Ally; great-grandchildren, James, Finley, Asher and Beau; brother-in-law, Dan Flaherty; and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.
A private Celebration of Life will be held.
Arrangements are entrusted to McMahon-Coyne-Vitantonio Funeral Homes in Willoughby and Mentor.
To leave condolences for the family, visit www.MCVfuneralhomes.com.
Patricia passed away at her home Friday, Dec. 23, 2022, surrounded by her loving husband and four children.
She was born June 13, 1944, in Cleveland, to the late Richard Brown and Ruth (nee Schneider) Brown.
Pat attended Miami University and graduated from Cleveland State with a degree in social work. She made an impact on many children whom she mentored and placed in foster homes. After her social work career, she continued to work with children by founding and teaching at Delightful Day Preschool, which has operated within St. Bede the Venerable Church in Mentor for more than 40 years.
Despite the many lives Pat touched as a social worker and pre-school leader before she turned 30 years old, she transitioned into the role she relished the most with the birth of her first daughter, Colleen in 1972. And this role could best be described as “mother to all.” Her primary job involved raising her four kids, and she was the best of the best at this. Pat was a loving mother, whose passion for her kids’ happiness and well-being was above and beyond the passion she had for her own well-being. This selflessness extended to not only her kids and relatives, but to her kids’ friends, her neighbors, her own friends, and even door-to-door advertisers, who would sometimes come just to talk to Pat and forget about the product, service or religion for which they had visited to promote in the first place.
Whatever “free-time” she gained through being a “stay-home mother,” she mostly returned to the community through volunteering at school events, sporting events, food pantries, free babysitting/after-school care, or transporting neighbors and friends to doctor’s appointments or grocery shopping trips. It goes without saying that she cared for and supported her kids’ friends as if they were hers as well. There were almost always more of her children’s friends in the house than her own children throughout the years of 1989-1993 and 1995-2002. Regardless of the appetites and emotions accompanying this abundance of teenagers, there was always enough food and goodwill to go around thanks predominantly to Pat. Pat cherished those years and reminisced often about the laughs, conversations, and parties that filled the modest-sized ranch at 6195 Hopkins Road. Indeed, Pat made sure that the lofty quote hanging above the entrance to her family room was a way of life in her household: “May our house always be too small to hold our friends.”
Pat was blessed with 11 grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren. She spent much of the latter two decades of her life babysitting and visiting with her grandkids. She traveled all over the country for their sporting events and other important milestones, or transported them all over the city if they needed a ride to practice, rehearsal, or even just school. No occasion was too small for celebration, no event too far away to make an extraordinary effort to attend.
Pat loved spending time with the people she loved, or even the people who simply needed her time. She watched her favorite Cleveland team, the Cavaliers win the 2016 NBA championship as the whole family was gathered together in Ocean City, N.J. She took a cruise with her sister-in-law, nieces, daughters, and other relatives dubbed the “girls just wanna have fun” cruise. She toured the Napa Valley wineries with her daughters and danced to the many great bands at the Geauga County Wineries. But with equal passion, she helped ensure that her neighbors, longtime friends/acquaintances, and family members were well taken care of in their final years. Few, if any activities, however, brought her more joy than regular lunch dates with her dear sister and best friend, Cindy.
She is survived by her husband of 56 years, William “Bill” “Flash” Flaherty, whom she married Nov. 24, 1966; children, Colleen (Chip) Ebert of Riverview, Fla., Alyson (Carl) Dondorfer of Concord Township, Ryan (Christina Mueller) Flaherty of Ann Arbor, Mich., and Melissa (Kevin) Jenkins of Mentor; sister, Cynthia (Ted) Johns of Richmond Heights; grandchildren, Jarryd (Carrie), Jeremy (Erin), Jordyn (Ricky), Zach, Mallory, Carley, Kellen, Liam, Anna, Myrna and Ally; great-grandchildren, James, Finley, Asher and Beau; brother-in-law, Dan Flaherty; and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.
A private Celebration of Life will be held.
Arrangements are entrusted to McMahon-Coyne-Vitantonio Funeral Homes in Willoughby and Mentor.
To leave condolences for the family, visit www.MCVfuneralhomes.com.