Patricia P Mijatov

Patricia "Pati" Paulette (Standish) MIJATOV passed away on the afternoon of April 8th, 2025 after a short, intense struggle with pancreatic cancer.
Pati was born on July 19th, 1946 in Masontown, PA, the youngest of nine children of George and Margaret (Buday) Standish. She graduated from Northwestern High School in Hyattsville, MD. A family friend introduced her to Milan Mijatov, Jr, a young soldier stationed in Washington, DC; a year later they married. She often said, "I would follow that man anywhere and I did."
Life as an Army wife meant moving constantly while raising their daughters. They lived in half a dozen states and in Europe. While she disliked setting up a new household every few years and being separated from Milan during his training and deployments, she did enjoy the chance to travel. She especially loved living in Germany, leading frequent exchanges between her daughters' Girl Scout troops, and German and Dutch Girl Guides.
As a military spouse, Pati had an eclectic career. She worked as a legal secretary for the US Department of Justice, and did accounting and clerical work for the US Olympic Committee, the City Council in Fairbanks AK, and a hydroponic farm. She was a timekeeper for the Alaska Fire Service, deploying on active wildfires to run payroll for smokejumpers.
When her children were teenagers, Pati used a small inheritance from her mother to enroll at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks to study business. Eleven years later, at age 51, she graduated with honors for her Bachelor of Arts in Ceramics.
Pati was a lifelong artist, endlessly fascinated by color, texture, and sound. She sewed clothing and costumes, knitted and crocheted, did needlework and beading, threw pottery, and created paintings, collages, photos, prints, and sculptures. She even learned to weld. In her later years she was a prolific quilter, and filled her studio several times over with fabric, notions, art supplies, and sewing equipment, which she would generously share with anyone and everyone who walked through her studio door. She mentored and encouraged other crafters and artists, especially her own daughters. Pati also loved music and always sang loudly and joyfully, even in public, although she said she couldn't carry a tune in a bucket.
Serving her community was important to Pati. She made cookies and pepperoni rolls for single soldiers, sewed lap quilts for residents of nursing homes, tutored in adult literacy programs, and led church youth groups and Girl Scout troops.
Pati is preceded in death by her parents and all eight of her siblings. She is survived by her husband Milan; her daughters Renata Mijatov Brennan (Kyle Brennan), Heidi Mijatov (Nathan Iven), and Pamala Mijatov (James Weidman); and grandchildren Milan Timothy and Pira Kae Mijatov Iven, and Jacen and Jack Brennan. At her request, there will be no funeral, as Pati felt the best way to honor her was to wear bright colors, make art, and sing in public. In lieu of flowers, please donate to charities for arts and education.
Messages of sympathy, stories and photos can be shared on Patricia's memorial page, at: www.flynnfuneralhome.com.