Patricia Ann Wyatt

Patricia Ann (Bush) Wyatt — a nurse, a wife, a mother, and a passionate practitioner of the art of wonder — died February 17th, 2026, at Kansas City Hospice House, after a lengthy battle with endometrial cancer. She was 69.

A proud lifelong Kansas Citian, Pat was born on December 7th, 1956, in Olathe, Kansas, to Elden “Bud” and Lydia (Schneider) Bush. She was baptized at Hope Lutheran Church in Shawnee, where she remained a member for the rest of her life. She graduated from Shawnee Mission Northwest High School, earned her associate’s degree in nursing from Johnson County Community College in Overland Park, then embarked on a long, successful career as a registered nurse.

She worked for more than 20 years for St. Joseph Medical Center, mostly treating patients as they prepared for or recovered from surgery. In 1997, she pivoted to medical research and worked for, among others, the Center for Pharmaceutical Research. Of the many projects she assisted there, she was most proud to have worked in the development and testing of a coil retriever mechanical thrombectomy device—a corkscrew-shaped wire used by surgeons to pluck clots out of the arteries of stroke patients. They represented a major advance in both engineering and medicine, helping more patients not only survive but recover fully. Or, as Pat put it, they were a marvel and a miracle.

In 1992, Pat joined the Welsh Folk Dance Society of Greater Kansas City. Later that year, her troupe performed at the National Gymanfa Ganu, a big festival of Welsh choral song and dance, at the downtown Hyatt. Backstage between numbers, Pat and another dancer, Douglas T. Wyatt, struck up a conversation. By the time the festival was over, they were each other’s preferred dance partner, even though Welsh folk dance requires you to change partners frequently. In what would become the Welsh Folk Dance Society’s favorite love story, Pat and Doug married on September 11th, 1993, and together they had one daughter, Megan Ann Wyatt. Both Doug and Megan survive her.

Pat always made time to savor the little wonders that make life richer. True to her KC roots, she loved to watch, attend, and cheer at Royals games, Chiefs games, and the Spinach Dip Showdown at the annual Lenexa Spinach Festival. She loved craft shows, where she could admire the handiwork of artists and artisans. And she loved to appreciate — with photographs! —things like a beautiful sunset, a clever license plate, a jar full of buttons, and anyone who could string their outdoor Christmas lights the “right” way: in a clean, perfectly straight line.

Pat was the beating heart of her small, close-knit family. After retiring, she cared for her mother Lydia until her death at 93; she would road-trip to Sheboygan, Wisconsin, to visit her cousins there; and she doted on her loving husband and daughter, as well as the family dogs, Pickles, Chloe, Lucy, and Daisy.

In addition to Doug and Megan, Pat is survived by her cousins Patrick Vanic and Chris Vanic of Sheboygan; her mother-in-law Marilee Wyatt of Moline, Illinois; her sister- and brother-in-law

Beth and Larry Dahlenburg of Barrington, Illinois; and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins-in-law, and friends, who already miss her keenly and will never again be able to tolerate a strand of crooked Christmas twinkle lights.

Memorial services will be held at 9:30 a.m. on Friday, February 20th, at Hope Lutheran Church in Shawnee, with graveside services to follow at 11 a.m. at Johnson County Memorial Gardens in Overland Park. (Gravesite will be at the southern end of the cemetery along the outer road.)

In lieu of flowers, please make a donation in Pat’s name to The Lutheran High School of Kansas City, Hope Lutheran Church, and American Cancer Society.