Patricia "Pat" Ann Clare Quigley

“Pat” (née Gresko) Quigley died peacefully at home on March 24th, 2025, the feast of St. Gabriel, Archangel.  After a recent hospital stay, she had been reading the biography of a saint named after the Archangel, St. Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows.

           Pat was born at St. Mary’s Hospital (later Mayo Clinic) in Rochester, Minnesota, on Wednesday, May 3, 1944, the youngest of three siblings.  Her mother, Veronica Dudinak’s family were from Slovakia, and her father Joseph’s family was from Hungary.  They both could speak and sing in some Russian and Slovakian, and her father sang every weekend in the parish choir.  He also grew roses at all of the family’s homes, and had enlisted in the Naval Reserve prior to the war, working in radio operations.  Her grandmother, Anna Dudinak, wore the traditional Slovakian mantle/head scarf until she died.  Pat had helped take care of her in her last illness, bringing her “tea and toasties” every day.  This grandmother was a midwife, and Pat’s mother also volunteered at the Mayo Clinic.

           The family moved to the southern suburbs of Detroit, Michigan, after the war, and Pat went to school at St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Grade School in Allen Park.  She then took the city bus to All Saints High School in Detroit.  Her and her siblings, Donna and Ray, had many happy times with their Dudinak cousins. 

           After attending college and living with a sponsor family to work among the poor of Guatemala, Pat graduated cum laude with a Bachelors of Arts in social work from the University of Detroit Mercy.  She married and had three children, with two surviving: Paul and Jenny.  The children were baptized at St. Aloysius Church in Detroit.  She played violin in a community orchestra when her kids were young, and took them both to music lessons growing up.  Over the years, Pat sponsored many children from third world countries through Catholic charities.  Her kids were her life, and she worked in the secretarial field and raised them in the Detroit area for 30 years until her second grandchild was born, at which time she moved to Montana.  She retired in the first decade of the new millennium, and had been residing in Post Falls, Idaho, at the time of her death.

           Pat loved relaxing at a rented lake cabin on vacation with her kids, flowers, gardening, children, classical music, playing violin, crossword puzzles, reading, and her family.  She went back to Michigan yearly to see her son, kept in touch with her sister, nieces and extended family, and spent many days laughing and playing with her grand-kids while their parents worked cows on a ranch.  She encouraged her children and grandchildren in their goals, and always celebrated their birthdays and holidays with joy and love.  She is remembered by family members for, in particular: “A calm and soothing voice”; “a little laugh”; “sending flowers to her mother-in-law on her birthday and special occasions”; “pushing her kids on a swing while singing”; “creating books out of the grandchildren’s art”; and “noticing the little things and the little ones”.

           Pat was preceded in death by Donald Quigley; her parents; her sister, Donna; her brother-in-law, Allen; her brother, Ray; her sister-in-law, Sharon; her parents-in-law, Madeline and Robert; three brothers-in-law, Allen, Charles, Robert, and Gerry; and two nieces, Tina and Kay.

           She is survived by her children, Paul Quigley and Jenny (Justin) Mercer; her grandchildren, Grace and Joseph Mercer; her nieces, Christy (Ken), and Erika (Tom); six sisters-in-law, two brothers-in-law, numerous cousins, and nieces and nephews-in-law, and grand-nieces and nephews.

           The family is grateful to St. Joseph for obtaining the grace for Pat to have the Last Sacraments of the Catholic Church to help her as she departed and Rev. Fr. Aloysius Hartman, C.M.R.I., who attended her death with Jenny; to our Blessed Mother, the Virgin Mary, for watching over her; to the Sacred Heart of Jesus for deigning to come to her help and consolation through the Last Sacraments; to Rev Fr. Casimir Puskorius, C.M.R.I., for officiating at the funeral; to St. Michael’s and Mary Immaculate Queen parishes; to Post Falls Police Department for their assistance; to Bell Tower and Heritage funeral homes; to her grand-daughter Grace for providing the flower arranging; and for the outpouring of condolences and prayers from their parishes, family and friends.

           The Requiem Mass for the repose of Pat’s soul will be on April 9th at St. Michael’s Parish, with burial following in Holy Rosary Cemetery.  Her pallbearers will be: Justin Mercer; Tim Drahman, Cemetery Manager, Holy Rosary Cemetery; Joseph Mercer (honorary); John Mercer (honorary); Paul Quigley (honorary).  A Rosary for the repose of her soul will be immediately preceding the funeral Mass.

In lieu of flowers, a GoFundMe page has been established to assist with her funeral expenses: https://gofund.me/fd9d6bd5.