(262) 653-0667
3016 75th Street, Kenosha, WI 53142
December 29, 1929 – December 14, 2025
Patricia Jean Lawler passed away peacefully after a long, full life, in the presence of family after a short stay at Hospice Alliance.
Born in Kenosha on December 29, 1929 to Ward Willis and Elizabeth Jean (Bloxdorf) McCarron, her family moved first to Berwyn, Illinois, and then to Chicago, where she attended St. Bartholomew Elementary School and Immaculata High School, before matriculating at Le Clerc College in Belleville, Illinois. On one of the trips her family made to Kenosha to visit their extended family, she met her future husband, the late James Joseph Lawler, at a family picnic. They wed on November 26, 1949 at St. James Catholic Church and remained happily married until his untimely passing in 1981.
Upon marrying she moved back to Kenosha, where she joined many clubs and made countless lifelong friends. She was a member of the Catholic Junior League, serving as president before her expanding family increased to seven children; Kurt (Cathy), the late Randi (Robert) Bautch, Kim (Laura), the late Scott, Jamie (Lori Marinelli), Matthew, and Thomas.
She was the heart of the family and her home was the gathering place for her children and their children for holidays and special events throughout the decades. She connected with old and young alike, and often knew more about the lives of her 75 nephews and nieces than they did of each other. She made friends easily due to her innate kindness, sense of civility, and genuine interest in others. When her family or friends were troubled, they would often turn to her as a sounding board knowing that she would not be judgmental but would simply lend a sympathetic ear.
Throughout her life she actively participated in volunteer and social organizations, including acting as a docent at the Kemper Center in Kenosha, reading to children at Durkee Elementary School, working at the St. Mary Festival each summer, and engaging in various charitable undertakings at the retirement community in North Port, Florida, where she wintered after retiring from the Kenosha County Department of Social Services in 1995.
Pat and her husband Jim were avid bridge players, playing once or twice each week throughout their marriage. After her husband’s passing, she continued playing regularly. Although she was a proficient player and won regularly, she loved nothing more than socializing with the other players.
Throughout the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, she and her family were members of St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church. A move to the house her husband built in Pleasant Prairie encouraged her and her husband to join St. Mary Catholic Church in the early 1980s, where she remained a parishioner to the present.
Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, December 20, 2025, at St. Mary Catholic Church, 7300 39th Avenue in Kenosha. Visitation with the family will be held from 9:00 a.m until Mass. Following Mass, final prayers and burial will be held at St. James Cemetery.
Casey Family Options Funerals & Cremations
3016 75th Street Kenosha WI 53142
262-653-0667
www.caseyfamilyoptions.com
Mon - Fri: 8AM - 4PM
(262) 653-0667
3016 75th Street, Kenosha, WI 53142
Therese Lawler says:
Aunt Pat was such a good woman! I loved her spunk! I’m glad to have spent time with her when I would go to Florida with Randi (and hear the “mom” stories). Rest in peace, Aunt Pat.
Love,
Therese
Mauree skonie says:
Aunt pat was my second mom. I’d ride the bus from madison to kenosha on many weekends. The premise was to give Randi a sister, but I was the one who gained the most…a whole new family with a tender and loving second mom.
Ruth Hammond says:
Aunt Pat was there for us when we were young, taking care of one or two of us whenever my mother was in the hospital having another baby.
After facing tragic losses, Aunt Pat found a career path to support herself and her family. I admire her resourcefulness, her tremendous fortitude, and her ability to find joy in life, even with its shadows.
My sympathy to my cherished cousins on the loss of their mother, and to their children on the loss of their grandmother.
Love,
Ruth
Janet Estep says:
Dear Pat’s family,
I’m a friend of Matt’s. I can tell from reading about Pat and knowing Matt’s devotion that she was a wonderful lady. She touched many lives and leaves a trail of goodness. May you all be comforted at this sacred time , knowing she lives on in the hearts of many. Bless you all, especially during the holidays.
George Hammond says:
I last visited my always elegant and cheerful Aunt Pat in 2021, at her home in Kenosha, and one of her first questions to me was “why aren’t you staying here for the weekend?”
My first stay at Aunt Pat’s house was in June 1956, while our mother (Patricia Lawler, Aunt Pat’s husband Jim’s sister) was in the hospital giving birth to our sister Carol (the child care sharing habit my sister Ruth refers to above). In 2021 I reminded Aunt Pat that during that visit she found it shocking that I still ate with a spoon, so she taught me to eat with a fork (I was three years old).
Aunt Pat was also entertained by my remembered confusion, at about the same age, when during one of our large family picnics at Granddaddy’s farm one of my cousins came up to our mother and called her Aunt Pat. I corrected that cousin: pointing to Aunt Pat I said that is Aunt Pat. This is Mom.
But what is most indelibly printed in my memory is the extreme grief Aunt Pat experienced when Uncle Jim suddenly and unexpectedly died. I never in my life, either before or since, have seen such genuine grief and I thought, at Uncle Jim’s wake, that this must be what true love is. Her suddenly broken heart had no strength to hide it. But clearly it possessed endless strength to rebuild her life and her family’s.
Jean Zahn says:
I worked with Pat many years ago at the Welfare Office (that is what it was called back then). She was a wonderful person, I will always remember how kind she was.
Bill Hammond says:
I remember Aunt Pat being kind and welcoming and genuine, always looking out for other people. She lived life well, and her long-term impact will continue to be visible in the lives of her children and grandchildren.
Our condolences to the whole family. Aunt Pat was truly special.
Bill and Cristina