Patricia Volesky

Funeral Services for Patricia M. Volesky, 81, of Dickinson will be 9:00 a. m. , Monday, February 14, 2011 at St. Patrick?s Catholic Church with Father Todd Kreitinger celebrating. Burial will follow at the North Dakota Veterans Cemetery in Mandan. Visitation for Patricia will be from 1:00 p. m. to 9:00 p. m. , Sunday, February 13, 2011 at Stevenson Funeral Home, Dickinson with a Rosary and Vigil Service being held at 7:00 p. m. Patricia passed away Thursday, February 9, 2011 at St. Luke?s Home in Dickinson. Patricia Mary (Roth) Volesky was born March 21, 1929 in Belfield, North Dakota, the daughter of Adam and Mamie (Matuska) Roth. Patricia attended school in Belfield, graduating from Belfield High School in May of 1947. She worked for the Billings County PMA as office manager, hiring her future husband, Charles, as field man in March, 1948. Patricia went on to the North Dakota State School of Science in Wahpeton, North Dakota, achieving her goal of elementary teacher certification. She secured a job teaching in the one-room Binstock School near Belfield, teaching all eight elementary grades in one classroom. On July 23, 1951, Patricia married the love of her life, Charles J. Volesky at St. Bernard?s Catholic Church in Belfield, North Dakota. Together they raised their four children, Valery, Mark, Vaune and Jill in Dickinson, North Dakota, instilling in them a legacy of life-lessons that lives on today: the importance of God, family, honesty, hard work, and responsibility to others. She and Charles were a monument to commitment and love during their nearly sixty years together. Patricia stayed active in her community, teaching private kindergarten in her home for fourteen years, planting over 300 miles of shelter belt trees for the Soil Conservation Service, tutoring hospitalized youth, teaching English as a second language and befriending those students to help them acclimate to life in the United States, substitute teaching, and putting on puppet shows for Easter Seal?s ?Everyone Counts? program to educate elementary children about disabilities. She served as a group leader for both Bluebirds and Campfire Girls, and was an active member of Catholic Daughters of America, St. Patrick?s Small Faith Group, served as Eucharistic Minister and the first female Lector at St. Patrick?s Catholic Church. Patricia provided a loving and secure environment for her family. Her children and their friends always knew that the Volesky house was the place to go for great food and fun. Her cooking and baking, especially bread in many forms and her famous chocolate popcorn, delighted everyone lucky enough to experience them. She enjoyed spending time with her husband and children as well as her grandchildren, all of whom never doubted her abiding love for them. Patricia was an adventurous, spontaneous woman who embraced life and new experiences. She loved to travel, once spending all but one week of the summer visiting family from California to Washington, D. C. and frequent West Coast trips to visit her much-loved siblings and their families. Overseas travel alone didn?t faze her; she made a trip to Berlin, Germany the summer of 1981 to welcome her first grandchild, BJ Cripe, to the family. For many years one of her favorite summer activities was packing up a camper and heading with the family to everywhere from the Oregon coast to Michigan and Tennessee. Pat didn?t limit herself to just seeing new things, she wanted to experience them too. She loved flying in hot-air balloons, boating, visiting the ocean, attending concerts and plays, and at the age of 78, snowmobiling for the first time. Until recent health issues arose, she was truly a woman who ?never acted her age. ?Patricia is survived by her son Mark (Vickie) Volesky of Lake Park, MN; daughters Valery (Dave) Campbell of Riverton, WY; Vaune (Jack) Cripe of Dickinson, ND; and Jill (Jay) Reddon of Riverton, WY; grandchildren BJ (Sara) Cripe, Haylee Cripe, Ryan Campbell, Meagan Reddon and John Reddon; great-grandchildren Jaxon and Cooper Cripe; two sisters Mary (Richard) Elwood of Santa Barbara, CA and Jane Ward of Vacaville, CA; one brother Mark (Grace)Roth of Hacienda Heights, CA and numerous nephews and nieces. Preceding her in death were her husband, Charles, parents Adam and Mamie Roth, one brother, J. Dean Roth, one sister, Sharon Keith, and brother-in-law Tom Ward. The family has established memorials with Dickinson Catholic Schools and Heartland Hospice.


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Burial Date: February 14, 2011
Funeral Home Dickinson, ND

Funeral Mass, Monday: St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, Dickinson, North Daktoa