Patricia Kerndt
Wednesday, August 17, 2016, Patricia Ann Reynolds Kerndt, age 92, of Lansing passed away with her family at her bedside. Mass of Christian Burial was held Monday, August 22 at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, Lansing, with Msgr. Ed Lechtenberg as the Celebrant. Burial followed at Gethsemane Cemetery, Lansing.
Patricia Reynolds Kerndt was born in Chicago, IL September 13, 1923 to Lulu Moran Reynolds and Earl Richard Reynolds. She grew up on the north side of Chicago with two older siblings, the late Mary (Haas) and Dick Reynolds. She attended elementary school in Chicago at Our Lady of Peace Elementary School on the south side.
When the family moved to the north side of Chicago, she attended St. Scholastica, a Catholic academy for young women. She graduated from St. Scholastica in 1940. After high school she attended Chicago Teacher’s College, which was associated with Chicago State University. She graduated in 1944 and taught elementary education in the Chicago Public Schools. During the war she volunteered in the war bond department registering people for ration books.
February 3, 1945, Patricia married Thomas Martin Kerndt in Chicago at Our Lady of the Lake Parish. Because Tom was stationed as an FBI agent in Seattle, WA they moved to that city, where they began to raise their family. Their first child was born there and after three years they transferred to Chicago. Living in Chicago for less than a year, the young family moved back to Tom’s hometown of Lansing in 1948, where Tom joined the family banking business. It was here in Lansing that Tom and Pat raised their ten children on a farm south of Lansing.
Tom and Pat were married for almost 50 years and their relationship was one of shared commitment and love. Deeply grounded in faith, they taught their children the value of reaching out into the world to help make it a better place, and they took pride in the contributions they saw their children make in both Lansing and around the world.
Patricia was an active member of the Lansing community. She worked with the youth T.E.C. program sponsored by the Catholic Church, the resettlement of Vietnamese refugees in the community, and The Old Stone School Historical Committee. She taught religion to elementary religion classes, worked with the Meals on Wheels program, and was an active member of the Lionesses’ Club.
Patricia loved to play bridge and was a longtime member of the Lansing Women’s Bridge Club. Patricia and her husband were long-term supporters of COPPROME Orphanage for protecting homeless children in Honduras and active supporters of the work of Sister Teresita Gonzalez and the Organization for Youth Empowerment.
Over many years Patricia loved and supported numerous exchange students and always filled her home with welcomed guests. She was an advocate for all those she encountered. She created a “home" for many who will forever cherish the memory and example of this wonderful, generous, faith-filled, feisty, spirited, loving woman.
Patricia’s family members include Mary Patricia Ahern (husband Patrick), Kathleen Higgins (husband Michael), Gus Kerndt (wife Verona Nicolae), Thomas Kerndt, Peter Kerndt (wife Nancy Geshke), Ann Kerndt (deceased), Margaret Kerndt, Susan Kerndt (husband Eric Mayo), Gretchen Kerndt, Jim Kerndt and Angela Restrepo Kerndt. Patricia’s grandchildren are Sarah, Brian and Ana Luisa Ahern, Tony, Katie, Ann and Jim Higgins, Gus and Nell Geshke Kerndt, Coty, Wyatt, Emalia and Else Mayo, and Tom, Andrea and Lucas Kerndt. Patricia’s great-grandchildren are Mary Sofia, Gregory, Matthew and Isabel.
As a tribute to Patricia’s compassion and concern for others, the family requests that in lieu of flowers, all donations in memory of her be given to the family for support to COPPROME Orphanage and the Organization for Youth Empowerment (OYE) in El Progreso, Honduras.
Thornburg-Grau Funeral Home and Cremation Service, Lansing assisted the family with arrangements.
