Schuetz, Patricia Sykes 

died Monday at Trinity Homes of Scottsdale, AZ. She 
was 78. Her early life could have been a movie, one 
starring a really small Shirley Temple. (As a child 
she even looked like Shirley, blonde curls and all.) 
Mom was abandoned at a hospital in Washington, D.C. in 
the throes of the Depression, just one more in a long 
line of babies whose families couldn't afford them. 
She wasn't a healthy baby, and the nurses and doctor 
on duty weren't sure she'd make it, not without a 
sizable blood donation. And there was no blood in her 
type. Except for the blood in the doctor himself, who 
offered up his arm without hesitating and thus saved 
Mom's life. And so she went to the orphanage, and was 
eventually found by her adoptive parents, who were 
charmed by the tiny Shirley look-alike and who raised 
her to be generous with her time and love to all who 
came by. One of those was the only man she ever loved, 
Robert Schuetz. Back then, Dad was a shy geeky type, 
but Mom knew what she wanted, and against the Very 
Firm Opinion of her mother, Pat married Bob and they 
stayed married until her death and probably beyond. 
She loyally followed Dad to ham radio functions, 
political functions, hiking club functions, genealogy 
functions, and to most of them she brought her salad. 
They also had two daughters, Annemarie and Ellen, and 
Mom devoted the middle part of her life to caring for 
us plus fish, guinea pigs, mice, rats, a ferret, a 
garter snake, and a thousand hamsters. Mom never 
objected, not once, not even when one of the hamsters 
somehow made more hamsters and we all ran away 
shrieking because we thought the babies were worms. 
When we left home, Mom took in a stray cat, and spent 
long hours talking to our stray friends. Food was 
usually involved. Mom was a good cook. In her last few 
years, despite ill health, she found new interests: 
knitting, the Internet (she may never forgive Dad for 
not getting it while they still lived at home), and 
televised surgery. More seriously, toward the end of 
her life, Mom was able to realize one of her greatest 
dreams: she joined the Roman Catholic Church and 
devoted herself to Mary, the mother of Jesus. She is 
survived by her husband, Robert F. Schuetz, also of 
Trinity Homes and her daughters, Ellen Douglass and 
husband Jason of Scottsdale and Annemarie Schuetz and 
husband Joe Cooke of Pennsylvania. She has three 
granddaughters: Dwyn Cooke and Lauren and Sarah 
Douglass. Special thanks, for their patience and 
loving care, go to Dean Nyangtung and Dennis Craft of 
Trinity Homes, to the staff of Trinity Homes, and 
especially to caregivers Dr. Frank, Myrna and Liu. She 
treated everyone just like her family, sometimes 
grumbling at them, sometimes haranguing them, and all 
the time loving them. We would also like to thank 
Odyssey Hospice and Hospice of the Valley, both 
excellent organizations, and to Father Bill and 
Marlene, Mike, Tony and Pat of St. Bernard's Church of 
Scottsdale. There will be a memorial service on 
Saturday, December 19 at 2:30 p.m.

Published in The Arizona Republic on December 17, 2009