Patricia Baysinger died peacefully on March 10, 2022, at Manor Court in Carbondale, Illinois. She was 94.
Pat was born on May 5, 1927, to John B. and Grace Lewis Rose in Mounds, Illinois. She moved with her family to Carbondale, Illinois, as a sophomore in high school, and graduated from Carbondale Community High School in 1945. She entered Southern Illinois University, but left school to marry Robert (Todd) Baysinger on June 26, 1949. They lived in Chicago, Illinois, while Todd finished medical school at the University of Illinois Chicago. Pat worked at the Institute for Juvenile Research. They returned to Carbondale upon Todd’s graduation from medical school in 1952.
While raising her four daughters, Pat continued her education at SIUC and graduated with a BA in English in 1970. After her graduation, she began working as an editor at the Center for John Dewey Studies at SIUC. She remained there until her retirement.
Pat had many interests. She had a lifelong love of music and was a singer with a small jazz band while attending high school and college. She played the guitar, and the piano, which she practiced enthusiastically. She passed along her love of music to her daughters and her grandchildren. She loved sports. She was an avid card player, especially of duplicate bridge, and achieved the highest rank of the American Contract Bridge League — Life Master.
She was a member of the Alpha Gamma Delta Sorority at SIUC, and a member of Saint Andrew’s Episcopal Church.
Pat is survived by her four daughters: Robin (Dan) Siegfried of Wheaton, Illinois; Sarah (Francis) Schmit of Charlottesville, Virginia; Jane (Patrick) McGarry of Overland Park, Kansas; and Mary Sesler of West Columbia, South Carolina; and ten grandchildren: Sam (Jessica Reynolds) and Hannah Siegfried; Sydney (Hunter McMillen), Ian, and Evan Schmit; Gage (Alicia) and Matthew (Brittney Hudgins) McGarry; and Emily (Nick Kean) and Caitlin (Daryl Smith) Coracy, and Colin Sesler; and six great-grandchildren: Kai and Miles McGarry; Ethan, Asher, and Charlotte Kean; and Silas Siegfried. She was preceded in death by her sister, Marilyn Moore, of Falls Church, Virginia, and her dear husband, Todd Baysinger.
To the incomparable caregivers who made it possible for Pat to remain in the home she loved until just shy of the end, we will never be able to thank you enough.
There will be no visitation and no services. She has donated her body to medical science. Walker Funeral Home has handled the arrangements. She requests no flowers. Donations may be made to the Carbondale Public Library.
Pat lived most of her life in Carbondale but was very much a citizen of the world. She had a thirst for knowledge and an intellectual curiosity that was fed by reading, and that love of reading never diminished. She was interested in, and was a student of, literature, movies, music, politics, and history. She was never afraid to step into the fray when she saw what she considered an injustice being done. She told us, “If I don’t do it, who will?” She had a great sense of humor (she once picked us up after grade school and when we got into the car and headed home, she said, “Girls, I’ve got something to tell you. I’m Carolyn Keene.” — and for a few seconds, we believed her!) and she was a terrific joke teller right up until the end. Pat was, first and foremost, her own person with her own interests, which made her an incredible role model for her daughters. She loved us so. We have always, and will always, consider ourselves so grateful and fortunate that she was our mother.
Joan, Smokey, and Jane are delighted to have their fourth at the bridge table.
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