Patti Shirek Viramontes

10/2/1940 – 11/8/2020
Music, Faith and Family

Born October 2, 1940 to Emil and Inez (Baierl) Shirek, Patti lived a long life devoted to faith, family and music. 

At 18, she joined the convent at St Rose in La Crosse, WI, but before her final vows she decided God had called her to pursue her love of music and children instead.  She then attended the University of Southern California and graduated with a degree in Music and English.  After graduating, she taught music before having her five daughters.

She is survived by her daughters Tanya (Eric) Hanson, Kara (Michael) Winter, Debra (Louis) Gombkoto, Jeanna Viramontes, and Jana (Alan) Gaffaney who were raised to know that they were fiercely loved. We are forever grateful that she sacrificed everything to ensure we had a good life.  A shameless baby hoarder, she had to settle for only nine grandchildren (Tyler, Ryan and Evan Hanson; Clara, Patrick and Johann Winter; and Jack, Samuel and Joseph Gaffaney) though she pushed for more to the end.  She loved to laugh, even (and maybe especially) in the face of hardship and illness.  While her recent years brought physical pain, she found joy in her grandchildren’s laughter, her faith in God, and her daily dose of ice cream. 

Patti is also survived by her four sisters, Nancy DuBois, Judy Trehan, Joni Dickrell, and Sandy Berg.

She will be interred in a simple green burial at Resurrection Cemetery in Mendota Heights, MN. Look for her name under Saint Bridgid, the patron saint of babies.

Today, Patti is dancing with her mom and dad in the heavens, celebrating a life full of love.