Patricia Marie Carney, of White Rock, died on Wednesday, December 13, 2023, after a sudden illness. She was 68.
She was born to Hugh and Marion Carney on March 7, 1955, and lived—along with six siblings and numerous animals—on the family’s farm near Renton, WA.
She attended parochial schools, spent a year studying in Grenoble, France, and graduated from the University of Seattle. She then lived, through the years, in Seattle, Kent, and Selah, WA, as she worked for various agencies as a social worker; primarily Consejo, Group Health, and Evergreen Treatment Services. Later in life, she owned a small farm in Selah where she tended fruit trees, raised goats, and pursued her passion for gardening and farming.
In 2019, following her retirement, she moved to White Rock to be near her son, Antonio Garcia, and his wife, Kenya. Their young daughter, Maddy, was born in May 2022 to immediately become Patricia’s newest and dearest love.
Patricia made friends easily, quickly noticing each person’s particular sorrow, loneliness, or need and reaching out in her special way. She was eager to learn all she could about her new New Mexico home, its cultures, towns, geology, and natural history. She eagerly took on the challenges of gardening (sometimes as drought raged) and baking in her new high-desert home. Triumphant at the accomplishment, she frequently shared her garden’s bounty with family, friends, and housemates.
Patricia had amazing language skills and loved stories, myths, poetry, legends, and songs, many of which she memorized easily to share with others. She was imaginative and applied her creative skills to fiber arts, textile crafts, and refinishing old furniture. She turned many a garage-sale or thrift-store castoff (or outright piece of junk) into an imaginative or beautiful new treasure. She was also passionate about reading and learning and, feeling the responsibility to stay informed, religiously followed current events.
She and her beloved (rather spoiled) Corgi, Katie, explored any and all trails they could find on the Pajarito Plateau. Patricia’s love and curiosity about animals ranged from mice and hamsters, through rabbits, chickens, and whatever other animals crossed her path. She was fascinated by the foxes she saw near her west White Rock neighborhood and often visited the Jemez Mountains’ Valles Caldera National Preserve to watch everything from scampering prairie dogs to the vast elk herds.
She had a wonderful singing voice and loved many forms of music. We will particularly miss the sound of her quiet, contented humming as she went about each day’s tasks. We will also miss her laughter, her bright eyes and quick smile, her immediate focus on whatever topic at hand, and her multitude of stories that seemed to follow her like a line of ducklings.
She will be greatly missed by those who loved her—Antonio, Kenya, Maddy, siblings, siblings-in-law, nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews, housemates, her many dear friends (longtime and new) and her neighbors (longtime and new).
A memorial service will be held at the family’s long-time Seattle-area church, St. Stephen the Martyr Catholic Church, on Jan. 25 at 11 a.m. Her ashes will be scattered at the Valles Caldera in the fall.