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Patricia Marie McChesney
Patricia Marie McChesney, 78, passed
away in the early morning of May 31, 2022 in Hospice at her daughter’s
Ipswich home. After a three year battle with MDS (myelodysplastic
syndrome) she succumbed to complications.
Patricia was born August 28, 1943 in Los Angeles, CA. She was a lifelong
nurse, working in fields including community health and Hospice, and later
in her career returning for her master’s to work as a psychiatric nurse
practitioner. She spent her life caring for others, and in every
interaction displayed her profoundly kind and engaged nature, always
empathetic and thoughtful.
She volunteered for the Citizen Review Board in Portland, OR; fostered
several children, adopting one; was an active member of the Unitarian
Church involved in multiple church committees and musical/choral groups;
and financially supported several organizations dear to her heart,
including the Humane Society and the ACLU. She was an avid reader of news,
as well as non-fiction and fiction, with a library of 1,000’s of books and
always a new one on the horizon. She surfed and lifeguarded
as a teenager in Southern
California, carrying her love of the ocean all through her life. As the
family (certified) genealogist, she traveled and researched, leading a
family group twice to Rathlin Island off the coast of Ireland, from which
ancestors emigrated in the 1870’s. She worked as a museum guide in
Historic Deerfield, teaching open hearth cooking and other colonial
traditions along with leading tours of the historic properties. Patricia
was a gifted artist who used sketch and oil paint to capture her vision.
She spent many hours in her later years writing, both as part of a group
and in her own practice. Her writing was full of careful observations and
quiet intelligence and insight, much like her. She joined a writing group
in Ipswich, which she loved dearly.
She was beloved by her family for her strength, loyalty, kindness, and
humor. She will be much missed,
by her daughter, who was by her side during her long illness and
with whom she shared an exceptionally loving bond, by her son in law, who
cherished her, and their three children, whose grandmother never missed a
game, meet, or recital, even when her chronic illness made life difficult,
along with her siblings, of whom two sisters were able to travel to be
with her during her last illness. In her short time in Ipswich she came to
love the town’s history and beauty, and made friends through her
volunteering and socializing, especially at the COA, which she treasured.
She leaves behind her daughter, Rachel Thompson of Ipswich, along with her
husband, Dr. Jeffrey P. Thompson, and their children Grace, Lucy, and
Gabriel; along with sisters Charlotte McCracken of Banning, CA; Mary Evans
of Towanda, KS; Carolyn Phillips of Anaheim, CA; and Steve McChesney of
CA. She was predeceased by her beloved parents Gerard D McChesney of
Fullerton, CA, and Pauline McChesney (Morse).
A memorial service will be held later in the summer. Donations may be made
to the MDS Foundation or the Humane Society of the United States. Private
Arrangements are under the direction of the Whittier-Porter Funeral Home
of Ipswich.
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