Patsy Elaine Stewart – aged 65 years, 10 months, and 6 days old – entered into Heaven on November 30, 2023 after a lengthy battle against congestive heart failure and pulmonary edema at Cox South Medical Center in Springfield, MO. She passed sleeping, gracefully, with family and friends by her side. Her nickname was Cricket.
Patsy was born January 24, 1958 in Kansas City, MO to Rondo Paul and Alice Dorene (Porter) Welch. She spent her earliest years in Denver, Colorado, before returning to the Douglas County community with her family. She graduated from Ava High School in 1976, and later earned an Associate of Arts Degree from Drury University in 2008. She loved to learn.
On May 14, 1977, Patsy Elaine Welch and Larry J. Stewart were united in marriage at the Girdner Church, and in 1982 were blessed with a son, Andrew Christopher. She loved being a mother.
Patsy was an artist. In her youth, she was gifted a kit and taught herself to decorate cakes. Returning to the work force in the 1990s, she lended these skills to Town & Country Supermarket, before branching out to serve the community on her own under the moniker Sugar Pie Cakes. If you have been to a celebration in our town, you have eaten – and likely enjoyed – a cake baked and decorated by Patsy. She was an excellent sewer, making countless of clothes and crafts over the years, recently working with her son, Andrew, to concept and produce creative for textile and wallcovering designers in New York and Los Angeles. She has sewn awnings and curtains for the Little Vigilant, a 71-foot historic National Geographic expedition sailboat harbored in Mystic Seaport, Connecticut. She loved to make and do.
Patsy loved baking, sewing, reading, and writing. She was fond of all animals, specifically cuddling with her cat, Eddie Spaghetti. She liked Easter, mashed potatoes, butter, birds and the color green. She secretly enjoyed crime documentaries and staying too long in bed. She was always open to try new foods and ever eager to “hit the road.” With her son and little brother, she saw Atlanta, Amarillo, Chicago, New Orleans, New York, Memphis, Pensacola, Tulsa, Palo Duro, Saint Louis and Sante Fe, and she would like for everyone here to know that when you are invited on a trip to absolutely take it. She loved soup – specifically chicken & dumplings, Japanese ramen and Vietnamese pho – breads and baked goods of all kinds, chips, crackers, popcorn and nuts. If you visited a new town, it was always mandatory to see their local bakery. Ironically, she preferred pie to cake.
She was a Christian, a member of Spring Creek General Baptist Church, but attended many meetings throughout the community. She also taught herself to play the piano and she sang, supporting most services that she attended with these skills. She taught Sunday School at Happy Home Freewill Baptist. While she loved the Bible and read it frequently, she felt strongly about freedom of religion, acceptance, and enjoyed learning about the goodness in other faiths. She cared passionately about the American flag, and would like to remind everyone that it was never meant to be worn and to please take it down during the rain. Overall, she lived by the words: Be kind. Please honor her memory by doing the same.
Patsy was preceded in death by her father, Rondo Paul Welch and her husband, Larry J Stewart. She is survived by her son, Andrew Stewart; her mother, Alice Welch; her siblings Randall, Joe and Harold Welch; her mother-in-law, Geneva Stewart; her sisters-in-law, Dianna Sherman and Deanna Tackett; her brother-in-law, Armon; all respective spouses; nieces; nephews; countless friends and beloved pets. She was a four decades long cancer survivor: non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, 1982, remission.
A reception and visitation for Patsy will be Saturday, December 9th, 2023 from 12:30 PM – 2:00 PM at Clinkingbeard Funeral Home.
Funeral services will be Saturday, December 9th, 2023 at 2:00 PM in the Clinkingbeard Chapel, Ava, MO, with burial following in the Ava Cemetery. Officiating will be Pastor Gary Swearengin, with additional support from Pastor James Hathcock, Cindy Shull and friends.
Monetary memorials may be made to the family as a love offering.
