Mary Pat Mockler

1934 - 2025

Mary Pat Mockler

May 24, 1934 - May 19, 2025

Mary Patricia Mockler, a longtime resident of Omaha, died May 19, 2025, in Boulder, CO. She was 90.

Mary Pat was born May 24, 1934, to Leo and Marjorie Keenan in Torrington, WY. She lived there until third grade, when her father served as a Navy ship doctor in the South Pacific, and the rest of her family relocated to the West Coast for the duration of World War II. In 1945, the family returned to their home in Torrington, where Mary Pat eventually became editor of her high school newspaper, prom queen, and valedictorian.

She attended the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where she majored in chemistry and graduated in three years.

After college, Mary Pat moved to Omaha and worked in the research lab at Omaha's Veterans Administration Building until 1960. During this time, she also met Robert Mockler. They were married in January 1959, and soon began a family: Rick (born 1960), Tom (1961), Tish (1963), Karen (1965), and Jim (1973). The family belonged to St. Margaret Mary Parish and the children attended St. Margaret Mary School.

In 1982, Mary Pat returned to work as a med tech at UNMC. Although she left the house before dawn for each shift, she still remained deeply involved in St. Margaret Mary Parish, where she served as an EME and volunteered on multiple committees. Many a night her family would find her in the basement, ironing stoles for the priests to wear on Sunday. She was also an active member of the League of Women Voters, and both a volunteer and board member for Emergency Pregnancy Services.

Mary Pat retired from UNMC in 1996. She loved to travel, and she and Bob visited several continents, including a whirlwind tour of Europe with several of their children. They also traveled throughout the United States, visiting their children, and, as they began to arrive, grandchildren.

In 2005, they sold their house on 75th Street and moved to a retirement community, The Arboretum on Farnam Drive. In 2018, they left Omaha to move to Colorado's Front Range. Bob died in 2021, and she spent her final years in memory care, where she often played the piano for her fellow residents.

Mary Pat loved classical music. For decades, she and Bob had season tickets to the Omaha Symphony. She also loved anything sweet-especially a margarita-and she was sweet, remaining upbeat, kind, and resilient through her final years. Her caretakers would often confess that she was one of their favorite residents.

She died on May 19, 2025, five days before turning 91.

She is preceded in death by her parents, Leo and Marjorie Keenan; and by her husband, Robert.

She is survived by her five children and their spouses, Richard (Chris), Thomas (Susan), Patricia Fobben (James), Karen (Michael Stark), and James (Stephanie); eight grandchildren, Brenna, Neil, Alana, Anastasia, Michael, Bridget, Marie, and Jonathan; brother, Richard; numerous nieces and nephews.

To leave condolences, please visit the mortuary website at www.heafeyheafey.com.

VIGIL SERVICE: Wednesday July 2, 2025, at 7 p.m., with VISITATION from 5 to 7 p.m., at West Center Chapel, 7805 West Center Road, Omaha.

MASS OF CHRISTIAN BURIAL: Thursday, July 3, 2025. 10:30 a.m., at St. Margaret Mary Catholic Church, 6116 Dodge Street, Omaha.

INTERMENT: Calvary Cemetery.

Heafey-Hoffmann-Dworak-Cutler

West Center Chapel, 7805 West Center Rd.

402-391-3900 | www.heafeyheafey.com