Patricia Rose Gleason

SPRINGFIELD, S.D. — Patricia Rose Gleason, 93, formerly of Coleridge, died Sept. 21, 2018, after a short battle with cancer in the home of her daughter in Springfield, S.D. Visitation and a Vigil service were Sept. 25 at St. Michael’s Catholic Church, Coleridge. Visitation will begin at 9:30 a.m., Wednesday, at St. Michael’s Catholic Church. Mass of Christian Burial will be Sept. 26, at 10:30 a.m., at St. Michael’s Catholic Church, with Rev. David Liewer officiating. Burial will be in St. Michael’s Cemetery, Coleridge. Pallbearers will be her grandchildren, Jennifer Newlon, Julie Walters, and Cassandra, Thomas, Ryan and Theron Troxel. The Wintz Funeral Home, Coleridge, is in charge of arrangements. Patricia “Pat” was born July 17, 1925, to Frank Philip and Edith (McGown) Boeshart in Dixon County. She graduated from Dixon High School in 1942. Pat married Claire E. Gleason June 5, 1946, in Dixon. She worked in a variety of positions including village clerk in Coleridge from 1977-1993, and was awarded the “Outstanding Village Clerk in the State of Nebraska” in 1983. After leaving the clerk position, she found retirement was not for her. She became a Chaplain at the Avera Sacred Heart Hospital, Yankton, S.D., for 15 years, until her final retirement after her 85th birthday. During her life, Pat served others as a Den Mother for Boy Scouts, a Girl Scout leader, a member and officer of the Legion Auxiliary, and a volunteer for the Coleridge Hospice group. At age 52, she became a volunteer Emergency Medical Technician. She taught Religious Education classes for 35 years and volunteered in various positions in her Church. She enjoyed reading, ballroom dancing, square dancing, crocheting, completing jigsaw puzzles, beating her family at scrabble and visiting with friends and family. She was not a typical stay-at-home grandma as she traveled to Germany, Taiwan, Yugoslavia and many states. Her adventures included riding in a semi with her son-in-law, flying in a hot-air balloon, square-dancing on the Royal Gorge Bridge in Colorado, and surviving an extended stay in Yugoslavia in 1991 due to the build-up of military tensions. Survivors include son, George Gleason, Plattsmouth; daughters, Edith Troxel, Springfield, S.D.; and Mary (Joseph) Walters, Colorado Springs, Colo.; eight grandchildren, Cassandra, Thomas, Ryan and Theron Troxel, and Teresa (David) Ewin, Robert Walters, Jennifer (Nate) Newlon, and Julie Walters; and 15 great-grandchildren; sister, Rita Stanley, South Sioux City; a brother-in-law, Gerald Stanley, Dixon; and many nieces, nephews and cousins. Pat was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Claire, June 7, 1988, at the age of 74; son, Robert (1955); son-in-law, Tom Troxel (2014); granddaughter, Kayla Troxel (2014); brothers, Neal and Frank Boeshart; and sisters, Edith Fessler and Angeline Stanley. In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to the St. Michael’s Cemetery Association in Coleridge.