Pasqualina "Pat" Guyer

Pasqualina (Pat) Frances Guyer, 84, of Springfield Missouri passed away Wednesday evening May 15, 2024. She was born April 17, 1940 in Davenport, Iowa, the daughter of Nazareno (Rap) Rapagnani and Marie Winegarten. She attended Mount St. Joseph Academy in St. Johnsbury Vermont, and went on to marry her high school sweetheart Robert Guyer on October 31, 1959. They had started dating at 16, and were married for over 64 wonderful years!
She was preceded in death by her parents Nazareno and Marie, her sisters Margaret Rapagnani and Angela Graham, and very close cousin Audrey Swigert. She is survived by her husband Robert Guyer, sons Michael Guyer (and Pamela Ferguson), Christopher Guyer (and Jody Guyer), and daughters Denise Levey (and Jerry Ring), Teresa Guyer, Janice Johnson (and Craig Johnson) and Katherine Guyer, and numerous other nieces, nephews, cousins, grandchildren, and great grandchildren.
Such a life well-lived, it's hard to quantify it. Pat had so many joys in life – her large family, her many friends, her passion for gardening and flowers, her many years of collecting Santas, arts and crafts, her involvement in the many churches she attended, and most importantly, the sharing of herself constantly and unconditionally. She truly never met a stranger.
A devoted lifetime Catholic, Pat became mother to 6 children, a grandmother and great grandmother. In the 1970's Pat became very pro-active in helping others. She volunteered at St. Agnes Catholic grade school while her children attended there. She hosted 2 expectant mothers in her home through the Birthright organization. During the Vietnamese relocation program, she helped settle families through the Catholic church in the Springfield area, also hosting a young Vietnamese man in her home for over a year until he was able to become fully settled into this country. She began helping needy families at Christmas and this continued throughout her life. She hosted the Catholic youth group in her home during her children's teenage years. A few years later with the passing of her sister, Angela Graham, she brought Angela's teenage son, Robert into their home and embraced him as her "3rd son". Robert continued to live with her until he finished high school. He is a very special son to her to this day.
More recently and for many years she has been a member of St. Monica's Guild at Holy Trinity Catholic Church, serving families at funerals, providing for needy newborn children, serving food to the elderly, and many other charitable activities that the guild does. Pat helped develop a religious education program for special needs children at Immaculate Conception church when her daughter entered young adulthood.
Pat spent 47 years of her life dedicated to her special needs daughter, Katherine – keeping her involved in many, many programs throughout her life – getting Katherine to work daily for 25 years, campouts, bowling, softball, outings, and on and on. When Katherine became a teenager, Pat began and hosted for many years a group of special needs young women at her home. These young women banded together and started calling themselves the 'Hot Babes' – such an endearing group of ladies! At one point, a woman with a special needs daughter (Heather), approached Pat in the grocery store asking about Katherine. By that night, Pat welcomed the girl to her home, and she ended up spending the weekend with them. She also became a member of the Hot Babe's club, changing the girl's life... just that quick!
Pat was the center of her family, hosting decades of dinners and parties at her home. In countless ways she has always been the glue that held our families together. She was also very involved with helping her special needs sister, Margaret, over the years and helping her adjust to living independently after her mother and father had passed away.
Her hobbies were many – the 'friends group' who met monthly in each other's homes to have hilarious social evenings; her Santa collection that spanned 40 years -- there are literally hundreds of Santas of all sizes all over the house -- it's Christmas 365 days per year at her house! She was a member and leader of the TOPS group for many years – what we call her 'social lunch club'. Her love of gardening and flowers spanned decades. In addition to planting a large garden annually, she has hundreds of flowers throughout her entire acre-sized yard. It became so prolific over the years that her yard became a stop on the Springfield garden tour for some time. We remember her spending literally hours some days outside with her floppy straw-brimmed hat and her radio, only to come back to the house covered in dirt from head to toe, and she LOVED it!
Some other organizations that she was involved with over the years include the Girl Scouts, Habitat for Humanity, and the Developmental Center of the Ozarks. She also worked at for years with MPACT – a Missouri action program for children and adults with special needs. Pat was also a long-time Red Cross blood donor along with her sister Margaret.
Giving to others in so many ways over many decades, she has literally impacted the lives of hundreds of people during her lifetime. Pat was the embodiment of "love one another". She loved and gave without judgment or expectation... that is something we can all hope to emulate. We are so very grateful to have had her in our lives -- she will be missed dearly!
Services will be held at 6:00 PM on Wednesday May 22, 2024 at Gorman-Scharpf Funeral home. Visitation with family will be after the service. Private burial service will be held at Resurrection Catholic Cemetery in Springfield MO on Friday May 24, 2024.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Newborns in Need (enter 'Springfield Chapter' on the site)..http://www.newbornsinneedspringfield.org/.
Pat's memorial slideshow can be viewed here.