Patti Louise (Johnson) de Jesus

Patti Louise (Johnson) de Jesus, 71, passed away on Saturday, February 7, at San Carlos Borromeo Hospital in Moca, Puerto Rico. She was born on December 9, 1954, in Kingsport, Tennessee, to John Henry Johnson and Iantha Mae Stallard and was the youngest of four children, including Rhonda Jean, Robert (Bob) Wayne, and Teresa Jane.

Patti lived in Aurora, Illinois, for most of her life. She had been employed at BRK Electronics, Western Electric, the OB/GYN practice of Mario Zapata, Suncast, Houghton Mifflin, Regional Reporting, and East Aurora SD131 at Simmons Middle School, Indian Prairie SD204 at Brooks Elementary School as a special ed teacher’s assistant. She had retired in 2016 with her husband of 50 years, Sigfredo de Jesus Martinez, to spend the rest of her life in Camuy, Puerto Rico, where she had counted herself blessed to have helped take care of her grandson, “Wichy”, her little prince.

She is survived by her husband, Sigfredo, three children, a daughter Bridgette Marisol (de Jesus) Pierce, two sons: Michael S, and Sigfredo II, five grandchildren: Giovani and Michael Anthony de Jesus, Jason Charles & Melanie Rachel Pierce, Sigfredo Daniel de Jesus III, and dozens of nieces and nephews.

Patti loved to sew and fashioned clothes, Cabbage Patch dolls, curtains, and even made face masks during the covid pandemic. She always had a song in her heart, especially country songs by Patsy Cline, and often sang karaoke (with one establishment suggesting she become their lounge singer!). Patti took an avid interest in genealogy, tracing 10 generations of ancestors dating back to the year 1715. Her favorite holidays to host family were Easter & Thanksgiving—so many warm memories of making enchiladas from scratch with her sister-in-law Rosa Isela Burciaga and niece Rachel (Burciaga) O’Neill. She often made hot cocoa after her kids and grandkids were outside in the snow and Sunday breakfast was always corned beef hash tortillas. She always thought everything could be cured with a little apple cider vinegar, coconut oil...and a lot of prayer! She had been a member of the New Hope Apostolic Church in Yorkville, Illinois, where she felt she had warm fellowship with a congregation that provided her with a source of strength, especially during the most challenging of times.

She was preceded in death by her sisters Rhonda and Teresa, her mother Iantha and her father John.

She was laid to rest on Tuesday, February 10, at the VA National Cemetery in Morovis, Puerto Rico.