Patricia Kersey

Kersey, Patricia Anne

Patricia "Pati" Anne Lowles Kersey, a woman of extraordinary talent and boundless love, went home to our heavenly father on Tuesday, August 26, 2025. Demonstrating dignity to the end, she passed with the graceful spirit she carried throughout her eighty-six years, surrounded in love by her family.

Recorded in 1973, her only album, "Refreshing...like a Gentle Summer Rain", provides a permanent and inspirational keepsake of her brilliant soprano voice. Coupled with her magnetic stage presence, she performed the demanding lead roles in Fairmont High School's productions of "Carousel", "South Pacific", and "Oklahoma". Glimpses of her acting prowess were seen with her reenactments of her award-winning dramatic readings, and she used these skills in mostly improvised puppet shows with her husband, Don, in youth leadership at church in their early years.

With a trio that included her sister, Bonnie Conner, she toured Europe after winning a competition with Youth for Christ in 1957. She would continue her calling in ministry, singing with Youth for Christ in Florida, including a performance at the White House, until a whirlwind romance resulted in a proposal from her husband. She declined an offer to sing with Thurlow Spurr's touring group to pursue her desired calling to be "a wife and mother."

After her Parkinson's diagnosis, medication side effects impaired her singing voice, and she found a second creative outlet in watercolor painting. A left-hander already gifted at drawing, her intricate florals, landscapes, and portraits have a place of pride in many homes. Her gifted artistic eye led to a later career as an interior designer, a natural outlet exemplified by the meticulously decorated homes she kept each time the family moved. Her house reflected every season with striking decorations and her floral arrangements, yet another of her many talents. Christmas was especially magical, with cascades of greenery and carols filling the air.

While she could have pursued earthly glory with her keen intellect and many talents, her priority in life remained her family, showering them with her unwavering love, and her commitment to God. She taught her children and grandchildren to use the talents God gave in service to him. She taught them to hope, and to have faith. Most of all, she taught them to love, the greatest of these. And that's what her children knew her to be: the greatest of mothers.

The legacy she leaves includes her husband of sixty-four years, Donald Kersey, her children and their spouses, Kimberly (Scott) Jackson, Kris (Camille) Kersey, Kelli (Matt) Stegman; her grandchildren Benjamin Jackson, Emily Halliday, and Joseph Stegman; and six great-grandchildren.

A Celebration of Life honoring Pati will be held at 10am on Friday, October 24 at Fairhaven Church in Centerville. In lieu of flowers, gifts may be made to Fairhaven Church.