Patricia L. Mahoney

March 10, 1930 - November 21, 2015 On Saturday, November 21, 2015 the heavens opened up and invited one of their angels to rejoin them. Patricia Lorraine (Marston) Mahoney passed away in La Quinta, CA, due to complications from Alzheimer's. She passed away quietly in her sleep with the same grace for which she was so well known. Patricia was born on March 10, 1930 to Charles Marston Jr. and Elizabeth Marston. She grew up on Point View Street in the Cathay Circle area of Los Angles and attended Crescent Heights Elementary School, Hamilton High School, then two years at Santa Monica City College (SMC) before she graduated from the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB) in 1950 with a BA in Early Childhood Education, followed up by a teaching credential shortly thereafter. It was during her sophomore year at Hamilton High School that she met a senior named Jim Mahoney while decorating the school gym for a Sadie Hawkins Day dance. Encouraged by her sister, Mary, Pat asked Jim to be her date at the dance, and so began a beautiful love story and future together. While in Santa Barbara her life was dedicated to her sorority, Kappa Alpha Theta, her studies, cooking at the sorority, and Jim. When the U.S. Army took Jim away for training and oversees duties in Korea, Pat pursued her love for children and teaching at elementary schools in Los Angeles. On November 29, 1952 Jim and Patricia were married in a quiet ceremony at St. Paul the Apostle Church in Westwood with family and friends in attendance. Soon thereafter, they started a family of their own and never looked back. While raising her five children Pat found time to substitute teach at their grammar school, Good Shepherd in Beverly Hills, initiated the Brownie and Cub Scout troops for the school and was their first group leader. She was the team mother for the Dodgers and Astros of the Beverly Hills Little League, and an active member of the Loyola High School and Marymount High School Mother's Guilds for over ten years, helping start fund raising campaigns for each school (Loyola Interchange '73) that are still going strong today. Pat organized the initial efforts for "Friends of the Children," a charity group that helped raise money and support for Maclaren Hall, a shelter for foster children, and "Yes I Can," a charity group that helped raise money for Multiple Sclerosis Research. Other charity organizations she was involved with were the Irene Dunn Guild and the John Wayne Cancer Clinic at St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica, CA. She was also an active member of the Beverly Hills Garden Club and the Social Service Auxiliary. Patricia loved spending time with her family and friends all over Los Angeles, from the beaches in Santa Monica to Will Rogers and Roxbury Parks, to Marina Del Rey. They were all on her list of favorite places. Pat also loved Bel-Air Country Club where she regularly played tennis and an occasional game of golf, followed by wonderful lunches and dinners in the grill room and especially on the outside patio overlooking the entire city. But when you think of Patricia Mahoney you think of the love she gave to her family and friends, and it was never so evident as when you came to her home. Patricia, Jim and their family lived in several different locations on the Westside of Los Angeles over the past sixty years, with Pat and Jim finally retiring to their current home in La Quinta in 2003, but it was their house at 710 N. Camden Dr. in Beverly Hills that they lived in from 1969 until 2003 that she will most be remembered. Burt Bacharach and Hal David wrote a 60's tune called "A House Is Not A Home," and those lyrics were never so true as when you entered Pat Mahoney's home. Nicknamed "Grand Central," it was the destination or meeting place for anyone and everyone who wanted a place to go, a place to feel good, a place to feel loved and special. Pat was always there to greet you at the front door and offer a big hug, an iced tea, a quick tuna or turkey sandwich, or even a steak dinner or omelet (at any time of day or night). Pat was also always there to offer a quick lift to wherever you had to go. Patricia is predeceased by her father Charles Marston Jr., mother Elizabeth Marston, sister Mary E. (Marston) Trusel, and is survived by her loving husband of 63 years Jim, her son Jim Jr. (Julia), Marilee, Sean (Cher), Michael, Monica (Paul), five grandchildren, Bridget Mahoney, Amy Mahoney, Tim Mahoney, Isabella (Mahoney) Adler and Ava (Mahoney) Adler, and the hundreds of "Pat's Children" that she might not have born, but were raised by her and treated as if they were her own. Pat lived a charmed life as the wife of a Hollywood press agent and if she were asked to sum up her life in a few words, she'd say: "Such Fun!" Funeral services were held in private, but a memorial service celebrating her life is pending. In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that contributions in Pat's memory be made to either Loyola High School, at 1901 Venice Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90006, or Marymount High School, at 10643 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90077.