Patricia (Patsy) Kledzik, 84

Born: August 1936

Died: December 2020

Pat Kledzik died peacefully at Fair Oaks Health Center in Crystal Lake, where she has been a resident for 11 years. Patsy is survived by her only sister, Mary Ann Frazer of Cary, Ill.; her niece, Sarah (Jarek) Piskor of Oakwood Hills; and her nephew, Matthew Quin Frazer of Chicago. She is also survived by her two grandnephews, Aven Quin Piskor of Oakwood Hills and Matthew Gaspar Frazer of Merida, Mexico. 

She will be missed by her beloved first cousins, Karen Matson of Bartlett, Ill., Tom (Diana) Kledzik of Fort Wayne, Ind., and Ted (Barbara) Kledzik of Plainfield, Ill., and their families.

Pat was born in Chicago to Walter and Antoinette Kledzik, but spent most of her life in Woodstock. She suffered from cerebral palsy from birth and her parents were advised to place her in an institution as the doctors said she would never be able to walk or talk. She did both, exceedingly well. She attended St. Mary’s grade school in Woodstock from first to seventh grade, beloved and supported by her kind and caring classmates there.

Pat lived a sheltered life with her family in Woodstock, and after their passing, with her wonderful aunt and uncle, Ted and Martha Kledzik and their family, in Burbank, Ill. 

Eleven years ago, when her health issues deteriorated, she was accepted at Fair Oaks Health Care in Crystal Lake to be near her sister. There she thrived and enjoyed the excellent care, love, and compassion of its wonderful staff. She took part in many activities, won so many Bingo games that she had no room for the prizes on her dresser, and became the caller out of numbers, as well as a kind of bossy caretaker for any residents she thought needed special attention.

Perhaps Wordsworth described her best when writing of his own sister:

A violet by a mossy stone, 

Half hidden from the eye

Fair as a star, when only one

Is shining in the sky.

She lived unknown and few could know

When Lucy ceased to be;

But she is in her grave, and oh,

The difference to me!”

All services for Patsy will be private.

If you wish to send a gift, please donate to Fair Oaks Health Care in Crystal Lake. They are so in need of help for all the extra PPE and supplies needed to manage COVID.

For information, contact the Schneider, Leucht, Merwin & Cooney Funeral Home, 815-338-1710 or visit slmcfh.com