Obituary of Patricia A. Lynch

Patricia “Patti” Ann Felice DiValentino Lynch, 79 years old, of Stony Point, NY, passed away peacefully on September 20, 2023. Born in Suffern, NY at Good Samaritan Hospital on October 14, 1943, to Mary “Mae” Felice and Ferdinand “Fred” Felice, Patricia grew up in Stony Point, NY, and as a child was often seen in and around “Fred’s” Market of Stony Point, the family business. She graduated from Haverstraw High School in 1961, and married Antonio DiValentino (deceased) of Haverstraw in 1962. The family lived in Stony Point, Garnerville, and ultimately in Highland where she raised her four children: Anthony, Michael, Joseph, and Gina.

After Patricia’s first marriage ended, she began a very successful career as a single mom in the Industrial Maintenance field. She initially worked for a sizable facility maintenance company where she started cleaning bathrooms and later worked her way up to Vice President of the company responsible for 500 employees in three states. Later in her career, she moved to senior management as an Executive Housekeeper for several Hudson Valley nursing homes where she took tremendous pride in her teams, typically receiving perfect scores when inspected. She was loved by her coworkers and often recognized for her dedication, outstanding leadership, creativity, and passion.

Patricia was considered by all who knew her as one of the original “warrior moms.” In 1965, Patricia’s first child, Anthony, “Little Tony” was born with significant special needs. This sparked a 58-year crusade advocating for Little Tony and ensuring that he received the best medical care, education, and programs available. When there were no programs available, she helped create them by sheer force of will. She was the force behind Highland’s program to integrate special needs children into mainstream schools. Little Tony was one of the first children integrated into the same public mainstream schools that his siblings attended. She was extremely active in ARC, Special Olympics, and Parent Teacher Associations. She and Little Tony attended every sporting or school event in which her other children were involved. She found a way to be present for all her children and to model inclusion for all. She broke barriers wherever she went. Her claim to fame was being the first mom to attend the annual Highland Senior League “Father and Son” Dinner. She was also an avid and devoted supporter of the military evidenced by her anonymously written letters to military members, her gold star hanging in her window, and her email address Airforcemom2007@yahoo.com.

Patricia sent three of her children off to college and in 1998 she married Albert Lynch (deceased). She returned home to Haverstraw and lived happily with Al and Little Tony. They loved baseball and were Rockland Boulder’s founding season ticket holders, frequently seen at games cheering on the local team. Al, Anthony, and Patricia traveled extensively. They cruised all over the Caribbean visiting over sixteen Caribbean islands. Patricia’s ultimate adventure was a cruise to Alaska where Little Tony, Al and she took a helicopter ride to the top of a glacier and all three walked atop the glacier. Patricia would often say that the trip to the top of the glacier was a spiritual event for her.

Patricia’s greatest joys came directly from her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. She will be greatly missed by all who knew and loved her.
She is survived by her children – Anthony (Little Tony) DiValentino, Michael DiValentino (Jennifer), Joseph DiValentino, and Gina DuBois (Daniel). After marrying Al, she added two more sons to the family, Albert Lynch (Vicki) and John Lynch (Debbie). Patricia is survived by her siblings – Frances Kingman (Richard), Linda Aschettino (Raymond), and Ralph Felice (Mariann).
 
Patricia has 17 grandchildren with the combined families – Nicholas, Jonathan (JT), Alexander, Cerissa, Dario, Austin, Emma, Kayla, Brendan, Kerianne, Kristi, Breana, Shannon, Jackson, Philip, Jonah, and Isaac. Along with the grandchildren, Patricia has three great grandchildren – Liam, Mason, and Savannah.

The family will receive friends and conduct a memorial service on Tuesday, September 26, 2023 from 4-8 p.m. at T.J. McGowan Funeral Home, 71 N. Central Highway, Garnerville, NY 10923. The funeral service will be held on Wednesday, September 27, 2023 at 10:00 a.m. at St. Peter’s Church, 115 Broadway, Haverstraw, NY. Burial will follow the funeral service at St. Peter’s Cemetery in Haverstraw. A lunch at Pasta Cucina, Stony Point, will immediately follow the burial service.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made the Jawanio Foundation (https://jawonio.org/donate-in- memory/) or the Hudson Valley Hospice Foundation (https://www.hvhospice.org/donate-now/) in honor of Patricia Lynch.

The family sends special thanks to the Hudson Valley Hospice and Taconic Rehabilitation and Nursing at Ulster nurses and aides who took such great care of Patricia as she fought her last battle against Interstitial Lung Disease (ILD). Donations can also be made to the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation (https://www.pulmonaryfibrosis.org). To leave an online condolence to the family, please visit tjmcgowansonsFH.com.