Patricia Ann Rosenstiel

Following a life of love, creativity, and extraordinary service to others, Pat Rosenstiel died on May 19, 2025, in Nashville, TN. She was 87 years old. Pat was a friend of Bill’s for over 59 years (April 13, 1966), through whom she made many dear friends worldwide. She was born Patricia Ann Johnson in New York, NY, on July 14,1937, to Dorothy Staples Johnson and William Johnson, both of whom were artists. In her early years she and her younger sister Willa lived between New York City (with her parents) and Glen Gardner, NJ (with her grandparents and cousins). She was especially close to her cousin Cynthia Staples. Pat attended the High School of Music and Art in New York City (later the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & the Arts). After high school she earned her bachelor’s degree in education at Oswego State Teachers College (later the State University of New York - Oswego). During summers she waitressed at a resort in Lake George, NY, and it was there that she met her future husband, Robert Rosenstiel. They married in Buffalo, NY, in June 1958. In 1961 the couple moved to Houston, TX, where they had three daughters – Linda, Cynthia, and Donna. In 1975, after divorce a few years earlier, Pat moved her daughters to Commerce, TX, to pursue a Master of Fine Arts degree in drawing at East Texas State University (later Texas A&M-Commerce). She raised her three daughters in this small town at a time when single motherhood was a rarity, yet became a valued part of its community, as both a schoolteacher and a member of the Episcopal Church of the Epiphany. Professionally, Pat was a gifted artist, receiving her MFA degree in 1978. Her primary medium was graphite, and while her pieces were largely abstract, they hinted at forms and subtly alluded to meanings. When asked about the meaning of a piece – as she often was – she simply responded with her own question: “What do you see?” Her artwork appeared in public shows in Pennsylvania, Texas, and Arkansas. In 1977, her piece, That Morning , won an honorable mention and purchase award in the juried show, 10th Annual Prints, Drawings and Crafts Exhibition, at the Arkansas Art Center in Little Rock, AR. The piece was acquired by the Arkansas Arts Center Foundation for its permanent collection and is now held by the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts in Little Rock. Pat had a long public school teaching career, most notably at the High School for Performing and Visual Arts (Houston, TX) and Commerce Middle School (Commerce, TX). She taught studio art and English, and she led the Commerce Middle School Gifted and Talented and Olympics of the Mind programs for several years. She also taught art privately and to students at ETSU. In 1988, Pat returned to New York City and was honored to serve for 10 years as a staff member of the General Service Office of Alcoholics Anonymous. There she performed a range of roles, from publications director, to outreach to prisons, to chairing the organizational committee for the AA International Convention. Through this position she travelled extensively, relishing the opportunity to experience AA in a variety of cultural contexts. After working in New York she returned to Texas, spending time with family and friends, and working at the Fort Worth Central Office of Alcoholics Anonymous. She retired in 2018. In addition to her formal employment at GSO/AAWS/FWCO, Pat served the fellowship as a delegate to many conventions on local, national, and international levels. Above all in her life, the relationships Pat developed with those she knew and served were her greatest joy, and they sustained her throughout her life. She was known for her humor, authenticity, determination – as well as her always present strong coffee. Pat embodied a spirit of generosity, always ready to help others, regardless of their circumstances. She approached these acts with both humility and grace, reflecting a deep sense of gratitude for the opportunity to help and for the help she similarly had received. Pat is preceded in death by her mother Dorothy Hoose and her father William Johnson, her daughter Cynthia Tatlock, her sister Willa Bartuska, her cousin Cynthia Staples, and her daughters’ father Robert. She is survived by her daughters Linda Boyd (Bruce Richardson, Sugar Land, TX) and Donna Rosenstiel (Mitch Roberson, Nashville, TN); and six grandchildren: Tim, Kristina, Robert, Emily, Elizabeth, and Amie, as well as multiple nieces, nephews, and great-grandchildren. A memorial ceremony will be held in Texas in the fall. Donations in Pat’s honor may be made to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) (www.aspca.org)

Patricia Ann Rosenstiel

July 14, 1937 - May 19, 2025