Pat, the only child of George and Leta (Parrott) Swiercinsky, was born on a hot summer day (119 degrees) in 1934 in Belleville, Kansas. There she grew up surrounded by both sets of grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Her days were filled with piano lessons, Girl Scouts, Rainbow Girls, hiking and horseback riding. In high school, she added CYF, Spiz Pep Club, Kayettes, Thespians, and babysitting for $.50 an hour. She was valedictorian of her 1952 high school class. Neither of her parents had the opportunity to attend college, but her education was important to them, and they told her to choose the school she wanted. She chose Emporia State University in Emporia, Kansas and was then off to college where she was soon involved in Interfaith Council, ASA sorority (Receiving the Eliz. Bird Small Award at the National level), and SAI (women's music fraternity). She graduated with a Bachelor of Music Education in 1956. While at Emporia, she met several music friends, and she was involved in a Round Robin letter with those friends for over 63 years.

In the fall of 1957, she returned to Emporia as Elementary Music Supervisor in the public schools. She also served as Big Sister to ASA actives, Program Advisor to SAI actives, and Children's Choir Director at First Christian Church. In the summer of 1963, Pat moved to Northwestern University to complete her master's degree (1964). Elected to Pi Kappa Lambda, she also was recipient of the Morgan and Morgan Award for scholarly research.

After two years in Colorado and a summer in Europe, she joined the music education faculty at University of North Texas in Denton, Texas in the fall of 1966. She soon met Clyde and stepped into her future! They married on January 27, 1968. Due to nepotism, she became a full-time homemaker. With marriage, Pat became "another mother" to Debbie and Pam and cherished her many happy years with them and their families, which include nine grandchildren (eight spouses) and 36 great-grandchildren.

Pat's life in Denton was rich and full. She was an active member of First Presbyterian Church, University Women of UNT, SAI Alumnae, and a coffee group of music wives. Pat always loved school and in 1976 became a student again at UNT. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1984 with a double major in art history and English literature and was elected to Phi Kappa Phi.

After Clyde's retirement, they enjoyed two years of travel with Eastern Airlines Get-Up-and-Go program. Clyde and Pat together were regular concertgoers, theater and museumgoers, and mall walkers. Together, they established endowed music scholarships at UNT, Northwestern, and Emporia State. Pat lost Clyde in 2012 but continued an active life. In June 2017, Pat moved to Good Samaritan and happily met some new friends. She was also grateful to all the staff for their helpfulness. As her health declined, she moved to Legends of McKinney Memory Care Center, where she quietly passed away on September 28, 2024. She always felt richly blessed and surrounded by loving family and friends.

Survivors are daughters Debbie and Pam (Tom), her grandchildren, great-grandchildren and cousins.

A celebration of life service will be held at First Presbyterian Church, 1114 W. University Drive, Denton, TX on Saturday, November 9, 2024, at 1:00 PM, following a private burial at Roselawn Cemetery.