Unfortunately, because of the coronavirus pandemic, we had to cancel a cruise scheduled two years ago to celebrate Potsy’s 80th birthday. It was always a party for Potsy, especially on St. He remembered how Potsy planned a sibling cruise in the Caribbean Sea for her 70th birthday and brought lots of green hats and paraphernalia for us to wear. “She was ‘Miss Social Director’ of family reunions, cruises, dinners and birthdays, always with a great deal of flair.” “Think of a time when Patricia wasn’t celebrating life and family or planning a party for all of us,” Tom told me.

Whatever name you use for Potsy, attach fun-loving to it, said our oldest brother, Tom, who also lives in Florida. Esther was an old family name, but no one ever used it. Patrick’s Day - and was christened Esther Patricia. It wasn’t that hard for our parents to come up with a name for her. That way, she would always know it was me calling her or writing to her. I came up with my own nickname for her years ago: Potsy. She rarely was called Patricia - her given name - except when she got into trouble as a child. To others, she was Pat, Patti, Paddy, Patsy or Patty-cubby-cake, a double meaning for her love of cupcakes and the Chicago Cubs. Potsy married once but was divorced and never had children of her own. She liked it when she earned the title of “Archbold Family Star Reporter.” If I ever wanted to know anything about our big family, I would call Potsy. She adored these children and they adored her back. In our family, she was the “Great Communicator” who kept track of the comings and goings of seven brothers and sisters, 21 nieces and nephews and their countless children. She was the kind of person who would talk to complete strangers in grocery stores, at the bus stop - anywhere. She created memories and then saved them. Potsy saved things because she loved people and people loved her.

I prefer to call her “a sentimental saver.” Most people would call my sister a pack rat for all the things she collected in her lifetime. She died after struggling for months with breast cancer and complications related to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Local thrift shops is where many of my sister’s belongings will go, as family members and friends who live in Florida sort through her “stuff” following her death on July 21.

Send my love cover patty cake