Patricia Joan Stamm

3/23/1932 - 10/05/2025

Stonington - Patricia Joan Mitchell Stamm was born March 23, 1932, and died peacefully Oct. 5, 2025. She was born in New York City to Adeline and Clifford Stamm and grew up in a series of rental apartments in the Woodlawn neighborhood of The Bronx, the Bayside neighborhood of Queens, and in Stuyvesant Town in Manhattan. Patricia identified as a proud New Yorker throughout her life, even after living for many years in Stonington.

While living in New York City, Patricia initially worked as a secretary at the J. Walter Thompson advertising agency, where she met her lifelong friends Barbara Mohler, Jean Davidson and Eileen Letty. She then worked for Kim and Gifford Productions in their animation studio, and at Jantzen Swimwear. She and her friends went on sailing adventures to Maine, the Virgin Islands, and the Bahamas. It was on a windjammer cruise to Cape Cod that she met her future husband, Bill Stamm. They were married for 32 years and raised their three children, Amy, Peter and Jeffrey together. Patricia instilled in her children and grandchildren a spirit of independence, and she nurtured their interests and maintained an absolute faith in their varied paths.

She held a lifelong interest in fashion and design, creating jewelry pieces for Saks Fifth Avenue and Barney's. The first word many people used to describe her was elegant. She had a bold and creative sense of style, and she brought her artistic sensibility into many projects, like creating elaborate Christmas displays, making dioramas for friends, and wrapping gifts in unique ways. She was an amazingly creative and thoughtful gift giver. She was principled and incredibly generous with her friends, family members, and social justice organizations.

Patricia's college education was interrupted so that she could care for her mother, but she eventually earned her B.A. from Smith College at the age of 61, an achievement of which she was enormously proud. There she developed an identity as a feminist, as well as a passion for writing, which began with daily "morning pages" and led to lifestyle pieces published in The New London Day and her self-published book, "No More Dead Cats." She was a voracious reader and an active member of the Mystic and Noank Library writing group and her women's writing group for years. She deeply valued her friendships with her fellow writers and the women in her life.

Patricia was honest to a fault and lived a life of deep integrity, self-reflection, and self-examination. For years she maintained a daily meditation practice. She had a great sense of humor and often laughed at herself. She swore by Nivea hand cream and always had a container of it by her side. She loved animals, and her children knew that she could never say no to a stray. She made peanut butter sandwiches for visiting possums and hosted a family of raccoons who lived in the rafters of her family's Stonington garage. For her 80th birthday, Patricia brought her family to volunteer for a week at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Utah.

She leaves behind her former husband Bill Stamm; her three children, Amy (and partner Alisa Klein), Peter (and wife Whitney Stamm) and Jeffrey; her grandchildren: Sarah (and husband Ben Terribile) and Clifford Stamm (and wife Megan Stamm), and their mother Christine Perkins; and Miles and Henry Cutler-Stamm, and their mother Lisa Cutler; and her great-grandbabies, Ada and Isla Terribile.

Her family would like to thank her caregivers Holly Butler and Greta McGugan, and the Academy Point and Beacon Hospice staff, who all helped her tremendously in her last months. She will be deeply and dearly missed by her family, friends, and all of the people with whom she shared her sly wit and generosity of spirit.

A graveside service will be held at 10 a.m. Monday Oct. 20, at the Elm Grove Cemetery, 197 Greenmanville Avenue, Mystic. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the animal sanctuary or social justice organization of your choice.