Patsy Doartd Albert

IF YOU ARE UNABLE TO ATTEND AND WOULD LIKE TO VIEW MRS. ALBERTS SERVICE LIVE, CLICK THIS TEXT

Patsy Doartd Albert age 91 years, 11 months and 2 weeks died Thurs morning 26 May 2022.

Born on June 8th 1930 and growing up in San Antonio, Texas Patsy was a part of a large extended family and remained connected despite meeting the love of her life at a USO dance and traveling the world as an Air Force wife.

Attending high school at San Antonio Tech she was in several dramas but was most proud of being a drum majorette.
Interests included reading, cooking and meeting new people but her main passion was her family which she kept coming to her house for celebrations and holiday meals.

She LOVED babies! She enjoyed playing "tope" with them, then graduating to "I live up here....." as they got older.
After 20 years as a military family, she and Jimmy retired to Mesquite, made friends with the neighbors, and became their Texas family.

A devoted Catholic, she was a member of St Pius X Catholic Church for 53 years. She cared for her husband at home for 15 years after his disabling stroke, she in turn was cared for by her daughter when dementia began to rob her of the memory of which she was so proud.

Patsy is preceded in death by her mother Otila "Tillie" Garza Doardt and her beloved step father William "Bill" Doardt, her dear sister Evelyn Wise and her husband of 63 years Leo "Jimmy" Albert.

Patsy is survived by children Debbie Albert (Shelly Finver); Denise (Tony) Kienzle; Derrick (Vicki) Albert and Desiree Collard.
She is also survived by 9 grand children: Kristi (Stony) Johnson; Kirk (Mandy) Kienzle; Shane (Sarah) Albert; Andrea (Jesse) Gonzales; Aaron (Kira) Collard; Kevin (Ashley) Albert; Kerri Kienzle (Dustin Schoedel); Mara (Nevo) Rahimi and Jared Finver. She had 18 great grandchildren and is also survived by sister in law Rosie, first cousin Laura Jo, 9 nieces and nephews, and many San Antonio 2nd cousins.

A celebration of life for Patsy will be held on Wednesday, June 8th on what would have been her 92nd birthday at New Hope Funeral Home in Sunnyvale.

She will be buried with her husband at Dallas Fort Worth National Cemetery, Dallas, TX. Memorial donations can be made in Patsy's name to the USO or to donor's charity of choice.

Eulogy for Patsy Albert

by Debbie Albert

Patsy Doardt Albert was actually born Virginia Morales.  I was glad I knew that fact as when I applied for Social Security and Medicare I was told my answer to the question of "What is your mother's maiden name?" was wrong!   Apparently her dad wanted her to be Virginia and her mom wanted her to be Patsy.  So Patsy wasn't the only strong willed woman in the family.  Tilly divorced her husband and I heard two different stories as to why.  Apparently she was either unhappy that he cheated on her or she wouldn't put up with abuse.  Either way Tilly, with 4 year old Evelyn and 2 year old Pasty, went to live with Tilly's sister Margaret.  They sold bootleg whiskey and that is how Tilly met Bill Doardt!  Bill was tickled that 2 year old Patsy called him "An old and ugly man."  13 year old Patsy adored Bill Doardt and when she heard her biological father speak disrespectfully about him she said she would no longer visit him and told Tilly "You can't make me see him!"  And indeed I remember her walking out of the funeral home chapel when he came to pay his respects when Bill died, she still didn't want to see him more than 25 years later!  She began using Doardt as her last name at least since high school and maybe before.

What Patsy was most proud of during high school at San Antonio Tech was being elected as a drum majorette.  She told me she took up the clarinet so she could be in the band but she really wanted to be a majorette. She said she was the 1st Hispanic drum majorette, telling me that she knew the Hispanic kids would vote for her. I remember being a student at the Myrtle Beach Air Force Base recreational center when Patsy taught baton twirling classes!

She loved to dance and she met her dance partner and life partner at a USO dance.  She and "Jimmy" found each other while he was training to be a medic in the US Air Force at Fort Sam Houston and decided to get married before he left for his 1st duty station in Massachusetts.  My mother said that my father was the 1st boyfriend my grandfather liked Bill was impressed that my father had been in the Army's 2nd Division and everyone else was "wet behind the ears."

Their honeymoon trip was certainly different as my dad had promised to drive several men to their new duty stations so Patsy had the company of 3 other men on their wedding trip!  One tid bit was that since they met and dated in the fall, she had never seen Jimmy without his shirt and was shocked when she saw his hairy chest when he took off his shirt to change a flat tire!

They lived in Cape Cod, Cambridge and Lowell Massachusetts and had 2 girls during that time.  My father was then stationed at Haneda Air Force Base in Japan and went there 6 months before my mother,  She drove from San Antonio to California with 3 year old me and my 18 month old sister Denise and boarded a ship to Japan.  Amazing what a 24 year old Air Force wife could do!  She loved Japan and the Japanese people.  

After Japan they were stationed at Travis Air Force Base, California and then Myrtle Beach Air Force Base, South Carolina where she had Derrick and Desiree.  We lived on the 2nd floor of a house on 2nd Ave, close to the beach and had to be evacuated because of a hurricane.  I remember it being great fun being in a big room with cots and other families.  Probably not so much fun being on a cot pregnant with twins!

My father was due to be stationed "unaccompanied" in Korea.  My mother heard that another Air Force Wife was declining to accompany her husband to Clark Air Force Base. So at her urging the 2 medics traded duty stations and that's how we ended up in the Philippines. Again my father went ahead and we followed 6 months later.  This time we flew to California and flew to the Philippines.  Their last duty station was Shepard Air Force Base, Texas.  Since military families are without their families of origin their friends  become family.  An almost 2 year old boy  stayed with us while his mom had baby #2; he dubbed my mom as "Patsy Mommy."  Even though military families move quite often they sometimes get to see old friends again.  A family we knew in Myrtle Beach moved to Sheppard and a family we knew in the Philippines also ended up at Sheppard.  We had the same next door neighbors at Shepard for 6 years, quite unusual for 2 Air Force families.  My mom and dad continued their habit of becoming like family to neighbors when they retired to Mesquite, Texas,  And although my mom remained close to her San Antonio family that didn't prevent her from "adopting" neighbors as family.

She did not know how to drive when she got married nor did she know how to cook, but boy did she learn!  Her cooking was legendary!  She loved trying new recipes and sharing her creations with her neighbors and kept her family returning for holidays and family celebrations.

Turtles!  Have no idea why she began collecting them but she had a house full of turtles.  If we didn't know what to get her for a gift, we could always give her a turtle!

Babies!  She loved babies, her babies, grand babies, neighbor babies, and great grand babies.  She loved playing with babies and little children.  She told me it wasn't so much fun when they began to talk back.  She didn't like that.

While growing up it was "Yes ma'am" or "No sir"  NO TALKING BACK!  So at age 12 I was surprised to hear her let my 5 year old brother talk back.  I screwed up my courage to ask "Why are you letting Derrick talk back?"  Her reply shocked me.  "I'm teaching your brother to stand on his own 2 feet; I'm teaching you girls to mind your husbands."  So the running joke with my husband is that that is one thing Patsy didn't do well.... I don't mind well!

My mom lived more than 52 years in Mesquite and created many friends and memories,  We will miss her deeply but feel sure she is happy to be with my dad and her family again.

To plant Memorial Trees in memory of Patsy Doartd Albert, please click here to visit our Sympathy Store.