PATRICIA (Patty, Patti, Pat) LYNN STELTER

March 5, 1946 – January 30, 2023

Patti Stelter, age 76, of Longmont, Colorado, passed away in her home from emphysema on January 30, 2023.

Patti was born in Boulder, Colorado on March 5, 1946, to Frederick Jacob Stelter and Nellie Neva (Chambers) Stelter.

Patti spent her childhood years attending Highland Elementary in Boulder, where she became good friends with Kathryn (Webb) Ennis, Kathy Snow Sills, and Elaine Stuart whom she retained a close relationship with throughout her life. During her childhood, these four took part in plenty of antics throughout their neighborhoods.

These friends never lost touch for long with one another, they termed themselves the "Fearsome Foursome Forever." It was known from a young age what a wonderful friend Patti was. Patti's beautiful, entertaining personality could not be matched they say – no one like Patti when it came to her humor and love for those that closely touched her life.

Patti went on to attend Casey Junior High School, then Boulder High School, graduating in 1964. Patti always enjoyed keeping up with her many high-school friends including Nancy (Conard) Julian, Carol (Arp) Holmgren, Nancy Martinez, Connie Hardin, Esther Sato, and many others through reunions and Classmates as those relationships over the years were very important to her.

Following graduation, Patti worked at Neodata Services along with Nancy Martinez & Elaine, one of the Fearsome Foursome Forever. During her time at Neodata, Patti became very close friends with Teresa (Atkins) Johnston, who had been like a sister to her throughout her life.

In February of 1966 was the birth of Patti's daughter, Dana Smith. Shortly after, Patti met another lifelong friend Cheryl Markgraf (Patti would become known as "Big Pat" to Cheryl's children). Around that same time, Patti started working for Boulder County Social Services, where she stayed for eight years, until landing a clerical position at Howe Mortuary in Boulder around 1975, where she met another lifelong friend, Fred Bachman.

She was offered the apartment above the Howe Mortuary in Louisville, CO in exchange for being the afterhours receptionist, while continuing to work at Howe's in Boulder. A couple years later when Darrell Howe decided to build the new mortuary in Lafayette, he included a new apartment for Patti and Dana, where they lived and she continued working for the Howe's for a total of eleven years. Following that, Patti worked for the City of Louisville as an administrative assistant and then at CU bookstore, then Boulder Medical Center in their Records Department. In 1992, Patti moved to Longmont and stayed with Nancy Julian, shortly before she began working for Cinnamon Park Assisted Living in Longmont, as a live-in medical supervisor, where she lived and worked for another nine years.

On March 5th, 1995, Dana gave birth to her son Tavius K. Koktavy, and when Dana called (she was living in Minnesota at the time) to wish her mother a happy birthday, she called from the hospital with the news that Patti's birthday present was her new grandbaby Tavius Kain, who immediately became Patti's center of attention. Patti bought a camcorder so Dana could send videos weekly, although they still ended up traveling back and forth because Patti just had to see her little Tavius, and within a year they moved back to Colorado.

Patti lived in Boulder County her entire life up until 2001, when she moved to Minneapolis, Kansas to live near her brother Jarry (Butch) Stelter and his family, working various jobs and enjoying weekends with her favorite cousins, Ken and Jackie, and Ron and Karen Stelter. Eventually, in 2013, Patti uprooted and moved to Waco, Texas to be with her newfound partner Wayland Hatfield.

During her time in Kansas and Texas, Patti kept in close touch with her Colorado roots by taking trips with Kathryn, one of the Fearsome Foursome who now resides in Texas. And even though Patti's health was beginning to slow her steps a bit, Patti still took part in the trips to keep in touch with family and friends in Colorado, which meant the world to them.

Patti lived in Waco, TX with Wayland where they enjoyed several years together. However, following an unfortunate illness of several months, Wayland passed late September of 2016. Dana went to TX to help Patti settle affairs and moved her back to Colorado. Patti spent the next three years staying with various friends and family, until finally getting her own apartment on Emery Street, in Longmont in May of 2019. There she made several new friends and reconnected with longtime family friend, Becky (Velarde) Carnagie. She lived on Emery until her recent passing on Jan. 30, 2023.

Throughout her years, Patti enjoyed many hobbies. She loved to color (yep, in coloring books). She loved polka music and going out dancing, mainly to country and western music; Dolly Parton, Kenny Rogers, and Willie Nelson were some of her favorites. She loved to go out bowling with her league, the 86th Squadron, and earned a high score of at least 188—she had her own ball and shoes so she'd say she was a pro! She was a creative at heart: Patti crafted and built her own China hutch and record cabinet, along with several other artistic items. She played the kettle drums and the accordion, she loved hand held electronic games until computers came along and then she was attached to online games. She also cultivated an extensive collection of Pepsi memorabilia. But most of all she just liked hanging out with friends and family.

It must be of special note, while Patti cherished her many friendships and family over the years, the one person who meant the world to her was her grandson, Tavius. Patti would light up when she relayed stories of her visits with Tavius. Their various occasions, especially their shared March 5th birthday celebrations, whether they were celebrating together in person or long distance over the phone, they were always special moments and were always first on the list for topic of conversation. To know Patti was to know how very much she loved her grandson, who she often referred to as her sugarbees.

In Patti's own words, as relayed to those childhood friends once about a get together: "I loved every minute of it except parting."

Patti was preceded in death by her father Jake Stelter, her mother Nellie Stelter, her brother Jarry (Butch) Stelter, her partner Wayland Hatfield, and her best friends Nancy Julian, Carol Holmgren, and Shari Markgraf.

Patti is survived by her grandson Tavius Koktavy of Manhattan NY, her daughter Dana Smith of Lafayette, CO, Dana's partner William (Andy) Mount of Lafayette, CO, his children Hailey Mount of Laramie WY & Cody Mount of Manhattan, NY; their cat Jackie of Lafayette, CO, her brother Kevin (Sandy) Stelter of Aurora, CO, her cousins Ken & Jackie, and Ron & Karen Stelter all of Kansas, her cousin Larry Siemers of CA, her best friends Terri Johnston of Kadoka, SD, Kathy Snow Sills, Elaine Stuart, Kathryn Ennis, Fred Bachman, Becky Carnagie, Pete Peterson, Ben Vinson, Joe Lopez, Judy Kingery, Michael Bowman, and all the other friends and family close to Patti.

A Celebration of Life will be held on Sunday, March 26th, 2023.

Please RSVP to: HonorPatti@gmail.com for the time and location.

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