Patricia ‘Patsy’ Pearse
Patricia “Patsy” Pearse of Holmes Beach died Jan. 15.
She obtained her bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of Western Ontario and her degree in education from OISE at the University of Toronto.
She was a favorite teacher and coach at Georgetown District High School and loved counselling.
She earned her master’s degree at Syracuse University and a doctorate in education from Rochester. Her research confirmed the importance of human touch in the counselling paradigm.
As a counselling psychologist at State University of New York in Fredonia in the early 1980s, she was instrumental in the opening of the Crisis Centre.
Her greatest gift to others was her ability and wish to “make ’em laugh,” to make others the focus of any interaction she had, to make others feel good about themselves through her thoughtful and carefully crafted questions.
A celebration of life was held Jan. 21 at Roser Memorial Community Church in Anna Maria. A memorial in Ontario will be held at a later date. Memorial donations may be made to the Jack Pearse Memorial Campership Fund at www.tawingo.net or the Counselling Centre at the State University of New York in Fredonia at www.fredonia.edu/counselling.
Survivors include sister Judy; brothers John and wife Helen McKay and Mike and wife Tia; nieces Meghan Tambling and husband John and Amanda; nephews Christopher, Tyler, and Carson; grand-nephew Jack Tambling; and beloved Kate Brown.