Patricia Gomez

Stoughton - Patricia M. Gomez, formerly of Eau Claire, died peacefully at Milestone Senior Living Center of natural causes on February 7, 2020, having led a life devoted to family, teaching and social justice. Born on St. Valentine’s Day, 1932, in Chicago, Illinois, to Florence (Girolamo) and Anthony Difanis, she was the second of five accomplished daughters.

In 1936, her family moved to Eau Claire, Wisconsin where numerous relatives had already settled. Patricia enjoyed an idyllic childhood, living in the house her father built on the Chippewa river and spending her summers at her uncle’s nearby farm where she raised animals (as pets) and learned to drive a tractor by the age of 12.

Patricia graduated from St. Patrick’s High School in 1950 and then entered the Wisconsin State Teachers College (now UW-Eau Claire) to study biology. In 1952, she moved to Chicago and enrolled at De Paul University. She also began working at the Jane Addams Hull House, and it was this experience that sparked her life-long commitment to social justice.

While working as a lab technician in Chicago, Patricia met Dr. Nicolas Humberto Gomez of Matanzas, Cuba. They married in April 1955 and by 1961 they had settled in Rock Island, Illinois to raise their four children.

In the 1960’s Patricia completed her degree in biology from De Paul, earned a teaching certificate and began teaching in the Rock Island parochial schools. Patricia had a deep love of teaching and spent the majority of her career in the Wisconsin Technical College System, where she taught a generation of EPA-certified wastewater facility managers, and where the curricula she developed are still in use.

In the 1970’s Patricia started a new life in rural Elmwood, Wisconsin, purchasing a beautiful farm straddling the Eau Galle river. She retreated to this acreage with its 120-year old log cabin when she was not teaching, and she had many wonderful summers there with her first grandchild. When she did travel, Patricia always spent time with family, whether it was with her daughter in California or with her sisters and cousins scattered across the country.

After retiring from teaching in 1998, Patricia moved to Iowa City to provide childcare for more grandchildren. She continued to support social justice causes and made many friends in the Iowa City peace movement. In 2005 she returned to Wisconsin to be near her other daughter. She continued her political activism in the Wisconsin Socialist Party.

Patricia is survived by her four children, Mark (Patricia Chong) of Iowa City, Luke (Carmen) of Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota, Concetta of Alameda, California and Annette (Kris Perlberg) of Stoughton, Wisconsin; her grandchildren, Gabriel Andrew and Mark as well as her sisters and many cousins, nieces and nephews.

The family would like to extend their thanks to the caring staff of Heartland Hospice and Milestone Senior Living for the kindness and care they gave Patricia.

A celebration of Patricia’s life will be held sometime this summer at her farm in Elmwood, Wisconsin.

To view and sign this guestbook, please visit www.ryanfuneralservice.com.

Ryan Funeral Home & Cremation Services
2418 N. Sherman Ave.
608-249-8257