Birth date: Jan 17, 1942 Death date: Jun 21, 2015
Patricia “Pat” Hirtz passed away peacefully at home, Sunday morning June 21, 2015. She was born January 17, 1942 to her loving parents Lawrence and Philomena Corrigan at St. Antony’s Hospital in St. Louis, Mo. She grew up with an Read Obituary
March for Life, Washington, D.C.
Mom and dad 50 years of their golden marriage celebration
I miss my mommy !
Mom I know you are at peace and with our Lord in Heaven. I hope you have had the opportunity to visit Bisquit and Casper as they will surely give you kisses.God has always been at our side and will continue to be there.I love you!Joe
God blessed me when I became Mrs. Hirtz’s nurse. I never knew how much a person could say with a smile until I met her. I looked forward to doing silly things just to make her laugh. I miss her so much. God bless this sweet family. Paulette
Oh Barbara, I weep with you! What a privilege to be able to be with your Mom and Dad these last few months. Be strong as your dearest mother was. Love, Rita
so beautiful. She was so honored by each of her children, blessings from God. But especially, she was humbled to be the mother of a priest, alter cChristi” so beautiful. She is with you always, dearest cousing, Father Patrick!, love Rita
I am fond of calling Patricia Hirtz as Mama Pat. You’ll know it later why. The life of Mama Pat in this world is a challenge to our faith for she makes us face the issue of suffering and the providence of God.All of us gathered here in support of George, Joe, Barbara, James, George, and Fr. Patrick and their families. They know the length of Mama Pat’s suffering. They know that she was a strong woman, a supportive wife, a devoted mother and a loving grandmother, and a good friend. They know that she was dedicated to her family. They know that she had a strong Catholic faith and they know that she was a woman of suffering, and we are all here to celebrate her life and to give our last farewell.Mama Pat had a quite long time to think about suffering because she lived quite long with it. I do not know if she thought about it in terms of the great mystery that it is and that she tried to understand the mystery. All I can say is she met the mystery not in theory but in the flesh, in her flesh, and she learned to live with it through her faith and the care and compassion of others, especially her family. It was her deep faith in God that she still learned how to smile despite the suffering she endured. Mama Pat lived a life she wanted to be because her deep faith in God shone through the way she lived her life. She did not only believe in the words of Christ, she put them into practice and taught her children how to live a life according to the Gospel. It is no wonder God has blessed her with a son who is a priest- Fr. Patrick. I’m not trying to canonize Mama Pat here because for sure she also had flaws and weaknesses. But she tried to follow and live the chosen Gospel from Matthew that we just heard. She fed the hungry, she clothed the naked, she gave a drink to the thirsty, she visited the sick and the imprisoned, and lastly she welcomed the stranger. To borrow Fr. Patrick’s words, she never met a stranger, and always welcomed them as Christ with a bright smile and her big blue eyes. It was no surprise that she welcomed me to her home.It was the year 2007. I was new. I did not know anybody yet except Fr. Keith, Fr. Patrick and my brother seminarians that time. I was lonely. I missed my family. Fr. Patrick took me to his parents’ home and George and Mama Pat received me with open arms. You would not wonder now why I call her Mama Pat. She welcomed me as if I was her own. At least she has me who is skinny, dark, short, and has black hair since everybody in the family has red hair. Thank you Mama Pat for the care and love!To George, Joe, Barbara, James, George, and Fr. Patrick, I know that there is a hole in your hearts that nobody or nothing could fill in at this moment of your grief. Things are never the same again without her. However, we look for the assurance that Mama Pat is in a good place right now. She is at peace. No more suffering, only joy. Our hope is that one day we will see Mama Pat again in the last days because her life just changed not ended. Her death is just the beginning of her journey to our real home in heaven. And she will be there because as Jesus said “Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me’ and she did it throughout her life. God would say to her: Well done my good and faithful servant, enter the joy of your Master. She will be there waiting for us.To end this homily I would like to borrow again Fr. Patrick’s words: The question is asked, what are we doing now? We are going to live! We are going to remember mom! We are going to follow her examples! We are going to praise and thank God for the life He has given us with Pat, wife, mother and friend.And may her noble and Christian soul rest now in peace.Fr. Dexter
Mom liked you
Your Mom, was a very beautiful soul. She welcomed me into her house, made sure I wS stuffed with food, and entertained like the gracious host she was! will miss Pat’s wit and charm! God bless her and the entire family!
