Patricia Mildred Athanas
Patricia Athanas
Winston Churchill once said: “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” Patricia Athanas was a wife, a mother, a sister, an aunt, a grandmother, and a banker. In all of these roles, she gave everything she had.
Patricia, also known affectionately as Satsy, was born in Chicago on January 4th, 1933 and raised in Wilmette, IL. She died peacefully, Wednesday, September 13th, 2017. She is survived by her four children, Alisa (Bruce) Lundeen, Lauren (Mark) Root, Jeff Athanas and Sherie (Ramiro) Valderrama; her special sister, Donna Porter; 8 grandchildren, 5 great grandchildren and many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her husband, James Athanas; her parents, Lauren and Mildred Porter; her sister, Dolly Hughes; and her brothers, 
Phil and Bob Porter.
Professionally, she built a career in banking, helping families in the community buy affordable homes. Always, she took joy in the simple things in life. A lifelong fan of the Chicago Cubs, she was also an avid reader, loved travel, a good game of bridge, and an exciting day at the race track. And, while she loved the race track, she always bet on people.
A blessing and remembrance of her life will be held on Saturday, September 16th, at 11 am at the home of Sherie and Ramiro Valderrama, 20235 NE 18th Place, Sammamish, WA 98074. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions in Patricia’s name may be made to: Evergreen Hospice Foundation, 12333 NE 130th Lane, Suite 300, Kirkland, WA 98034.
15 Responses to “Patricia Mildred Athanas”
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We had such good times together. Her wonderful sense of humor would carry us through many rough situations. She was a wonderful sister to me. I know she is now in a better place.
I am so sorry to hear this. Maudie was a mom to me when I needed one. A mentor as a parent and a kind and generous person. I will remember her with love.
I hope her memory brings a smile to all who loved her.
Dear Athanas family, you are family to me; and my heart is with you and I hold you all in my thoughts and prayers through this time of sorrow together. Thank you so much for sharing Mom with me! I am so thankful to have known and loved my ‘Patti-cake,’ and for the time we spent together. She is a sweet,gentle, beautiful, loving soul. I feel her peace when I think of her sleeping safe in the arms of Jesus, til we meet again. Please find your comfort in her peace and God’s promise of new and eternal life together in His Kingdom. This is my prayer for us all, in Jesus’ name. Amen
We have many fond memories of Aunt Pat since she lived so near to us. Either spending time with her in Highland Park, the many Holidays spent at Phil and Donna’s and her love for the Cubbies!
She had a heart of gold and always found the silver lining in any situation. She was also not shy in speaking her mind. These are two traits many of us wish we had.
We will miss you Satsy but find peace in knowing you have rejoined your parents and siblings.
My sincere condolences to the family. May she always stay in you hearts and memories.
Please forgive me for using this site to reach out to Lauren and her son Jonathen. I have been hoping for decades to find you. Please please email me for more information. I really look forward and anticipate to hear from you.
Chelsea
I married Lauren Athanas 26 years ago, so Pat Athanas was my mother in law for a long time. She never displayed any of the stereotypical traits associated with “mother in law”. She was fun. We shared years of joy over the Jordan era Chicago Bulls and had a good natured rivalry over the Bears vs 49ers games. I was always happy to see her. She never made demands and I don’t recall her ever complaining about anyone or anything. It wasn’t because she didn’t know what was going on ..she knew! We live in Madison Virginia and didn’t see her all that often but the memories I have I will cherish. I know my son feels the same way. God bless you Satsy. My heart is heavy feeling the loss her family is experiencing.
A message to my favorite aunt. Yes Aunt Pat, you were always my favorite. Of course, I love all my aunts, but just the same,lets keep this between you and me ok.I think you already knew this though.You were also your sister Dollys’ best friend, my mother.I know you are with all your departed loved ones and at peace now. Everything I remember when I think of you is good and loving. It is hard to put in words as to what you mean to me.I love your easy going personality and great sense of humor. You and I have quite a bond when it comes to both our love of sports,especially the Cubbies and the Tigers. I always smile thinking about our sports talk. I love the story of you taking gum and candy from Grandpa and Grandma’s Pharmacy during the World War years and taking it to all the Cub players, who all kind of adopted you. That was so cool. So Aunt Pat, I think you know you have a special place in my heart. I love you. God bless you.
My Aunt Pat was always a loving, wonderful Aunt as far back as I can remember, but she really stepped up when I lost my Mother.
After my Mother passed, she stepped in as a surrogate Mother and Grandmother for our family. Whenever I needed her, she was there. Forever in my heart. Love and miss you Aunt Pat.
Satsy was always that grandma for me – the one I could always talk to about anything and everything and know that she always accepted me for who I was, without any judgement. She was generous to a fault, loving, and always there for me.
When I came to the US at 18, I lived with her for the summer. She got me my first professional job, which has led me to where I am now. She taught me to use a washing machine and a dryer and a dishwasher (all foreign things to me coming from a small dusty town in Kenya). She helped me through the utter confusion of grocery shopping in the US and taught me how to use an ATM card and write checks (and explained that checks don’t clear immediately!)
My memories of that summer are some of my fondest. Watching the Cubbies with her as they made it to the playoffs as a wild card – the exhilaration we both felt, followed quickly by the sadness and dejection when they were quickly eliminated. Our talks on the way to and from work every day. Going to see “Something About Mary” in the movie theatre (and my utter embarrassment at one of the scenes, which she took totally in stride while I was sinking down in my seat cringing). Playing cards with her while we watched Law and Order. The day she caught me sneaking a cigarette outside on the deck, and told me “I won’t tell your mother but if she asks I won’t lie about it.” The day I came over after getting my tongue pierced, and her laughing and telling me my mother would have a heart attack when she saw it (she was pretty much right on the money with that one!)
I struggled a lot that first year in the States, and Satsy was always there for me. She would pick me up from my dorm at Lake Forest College on Sundays, and I’d go to her house to eat pizza and do my laundry. She opened her house to my friends happily, and we had many evenings spent playing cards and hanging out with her. Her house was a safe haven for me, a place I could go to replenish myself, always open to me.
Satsy was a rock for me. A role model in so many ways. She was a strong independent woman, and I looked up to her in awe sometimes, hoping that I could be as strong and independent as she was. She never wavered in who she was, and that’s one of the things I admired most about her. She taught me to be myself and to always stand up for myself, and to have integrity no matter the cost.
I’m blessed to have been able to have her as my grandmother. I know that she’ll always be with me, in the lessons she taught me, in the way she showed me how to live my life.
My Aunt Pat was one very special, fun loving lady. Whether playing cards at grandma’s house or socializing with family members during holidays or during our many joint Michigan lakes & Georgian Bay cottages vacations, Aunt Pat was always “the life of the party” and a person everyone wanted to be with. I most remember her broad, affectionate smile and how I always felt so comfortable talking with her about anything. In fact, she had a very significant influence on my life when after she met my college sweetheart, she informed me that “she’s the one for you Gene.” Aunt Pat was always such a great judge of people. The “love of my life” and I have now been together fourty-five wonderful years.
Dear Pat I am sure you are now at the great bridge table in the sky or playing slap slap with your siblings. No doubt Jim is reading a book nearby. We will miss your sense of humor, sparkling blue eyes and pretty smile. I enjoyed being able to discuss books and sports with you at any time of the day. Now I will also miss the daily 3 pm visits but know that you are at peace and enjoying watching all the games from the sky box seats above.
To my cousins, Lisa, Sherry, Lauren, Jeff, and the whole Porter family my love and prayers are with you always. My Aunt Pat, was my Mom’s sister, confidant and best friend. Aunt Pat, you were always my second Mom and we were so lucky to have you in our life all these years. When I was growing up we would travel numerous times a year to the Chicago area to see the whole Porter family, where I got to spend many sleep overs in my Aunt Pat’s home. I will always remember going to Cub games, never White Sox games unless the Detroit Tigers were in town, the race track visits, and the many trips to the awesome museums in Chicago. There were times I was so excited at night before our trips to Chicago I could not sleep. Growing up I knew the City of Chicago better than the City of Detroit. One of my best memories with my Aunt Pat and my firstborn son, Nicholas, was at her home in Highland Park where we were sitting at the dining room table, reading the newspaper and playing solitaire (with decks of cards) when Nicholas, age 3, came up to my Aunt Pat and said, “can I have the sports section please.” Aunt Pat, looked at me, very surprised and gave him the sports section which he took over to the living room floor, spread it out and started looking for his Detroit teams and other favorites and started reading out loud, all the stats for each team. Aunt Pat declared “that’s my boy.” My other son, James, has many memories from spending time with Emma, Aunt Pat’s granddaughter. When we visited Aunt Pat in Highland Park, James would always head to the basement to play pool on Aunt Pat’s pool table. I will always remember when Aunt Pat worked at the bank and made lunch visits to our grandparent’s home while we were visiting – those were good times. My family and I were blessed to have an aunt such as my Aunt Pat and our memories will be forever cherished.
Aunt Pat was a special person. We always enjoyed family gatherings many that were held in her home. She was a big part of the joy. Great sense of humor and always positive even during difficult times. We have so many memories and will cherish them until we see her again. Math 5:5.
Dear Athanas Family,
I was truly sad to hear this news. I have many fond memories growing up and stopping over to bug you guys, basically, whoever was home. I had many times where I would just hang out and talk with your mom. She was always very kind and made me feel special, mostly, because she would tell me I did not have to leave, if Lauren or Sherri were not home. OR she would embarrass me and call James out to the living room and yell, James, Lu-Lu is here. She would tell me I was his favorite. He was who always called me little Lu-Lu. She would go back and forth to see the game on TV, I recall, always a baseball game. One time she came darting out giving a yell out to the play, she laughed because it frightened me and I jumped from my seat a little.. she felt bad and gave me a hug.
She took time out of her day to sit at the dining room table with me, she would always ask how I was doing and if I was coming along in school. She made me feel important, just by simply by asking me how I was doing. So many honks when we passed the house on Half Day Road. I still even honk where our house was.
I will remember all the many times for sure. Let us celebrate knowing her. She is in a special place now and with our Lord. May she rest in peace and know who many people she touched along her journey on earth.
Many memories with you all, I do and will always cherish them. For all of us that came over, your door was always open and so was her heart!
Although we all grow up & away, these memories are all mine, and she will always have a place in my heart, James too.
My deepest sympathy to you all. Rest in peace Pat, I too shall bug you again some day!
I love you Pat XXOO, May you rest in peace.
Stay strong and close to each other! My love to you all.
God Bless You and yours.
Truly,
Litle Lu-Lu
Mindi Lou Douglas
I worked with Pat for several years in the early 80s at First Federal of Wilmette where she was my boss. She was great to work with. I just Googled her name after talking to another co-worker from that period and was saddened to see her obituary. Pat was great to work for and I enjoyed her attitude, sense of humor and solid common sense.