Patricia Ann Strojny, 78, of Middlebury, IN, died Sunday, Oct. 19, 2014.
She was born Dec. 29, 1935, in Elkhart, IN, to Theodore Wayne and Anna (Pinter) Ringer.
Patricia received her nursing degree from Purdue University in 1971 and worked as a registered nurse in critical care, medical surgery and recovery at La Porte Hospital for almost 20 years. While there she completed another degree in public health from the University of St. Francis. She then went on to run the Women, Infants and Children program in LaPorte and Elkhart counties. She finished her nursing career working as assistant director of nursing at Lakeland Rehabilitation in Milford, IN, and then in Home Health Care, serving Elkhart, Lagrange and Kosciusko counties. She greatly enjoyed her calling to help care for her patients, but her real love was spending time with her family and friends, especially at Hunter Lake in Middlebury.
Patricia was married to David Kent Bowser, who preceded her in death on July 5, 1969. She then married Jerome Joseph Strojny, who preceded her in death on Jan. 2, 1989.
A great-grandson, Weston Proud, and a brother, Ted Ringer, also preceded her in death.
Patricia is survived by her children, Randy L. (Kim) Bowser of LaPorte, Terry A. (Mary) Bowser of Hanna, IN, Larry L. (Susie) Bowser of LaPorte and Jodi Strojny Clouse of Syracuse, IN; eight grandchildren, David (Jackie) Bowser, Shannon (Matt) Proud, Michael Bowser, Dustin Bowser, Stephen Bowser, Haley Bowser, Stevie Bowser, and Olivia Clouse; and two great-grandchildren, Wyatt and Wren Proud.
Visitation will be at Essling Funeral Home, LaPorte, on Thursday, Oct. 23, from 4 to 8 p.m. and Friday, Oct. 24, from 10 to 11 a.m. A funeral service will be held Friday at 11 a.m. at the funeral home. Burial will follow in Union Mills Cemetery.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association at www.alz.org, or the Leukemia Foundation at www.lls.org.
Messages of condolence may be posted below on WNLP, as well as at www.esslingfuneralhome.com.