Patricia Viskocil

Patricia Viskocil
We lost our best friend today. Our Mom, Patricia Jean Viskocil, passed away Sunday March 10th 2019 while holding our hands at her home in Waseca MN after a hard fought battle with lung cancer. She was 74. Born on June 25th 1944 at the New Prague Hospital, she dreamed as a little girl of becoming a Nun until her Mom made an impression on her about not being able to have a family if she did. It changed her mind, so she attended Holy Redeemer Parochial School until 8th grade and then Graduated from Montgomery High School four years later.

In that High School time, a young and good looking man "Came a Courting" and eventually won her heart. This man would later become her husband. That man, our Dad, passed away in Waseca on Saturday June 18th 1983 from a heart attack. We were only five and nine years old. Mom carried on as she always has her entire life, with dignity and honor. It wasnt always easy, but she tirelessly raised both of us while working full time and sometimes more. She never once complained. Never. She never begged for help. She never felt sorry for herself, and she never gave up on us. Ever. From her early days in the 60s with Dad at EF Johnson to the rest of her twenty-seven years at the Waseca County UofM Extension Service, she found solace through every hard time in the comfort of her family and millions of friends. We admired her and her strength.

About five years after Dad passed, in August of 1988, she met a "fella" at a singles snowball dance who caught her eye with "a pretty good Waltz." This man would become her life partner from then on. After all she had been through, he made her feel alive again. They never stopped dancing, travelling, talking, doing or seeing for the rest of her days. For that, we are eternally grateful to him.

Over the years, we have watched Mom come dancing from the kitchen when Johnny Cashs "I Walk the Line" was played. Shes laughed at all of our sibling insults against each other (and then scolded us for doing so afterward). She always brought us more food when we were already full (made THE BEST potato dumplings, sloppy joes and potato salad). She continually said the house needed dusting even after it was just done, and would then proceed to eat her Prune Kolackys from Frankes Bakery (Montgomery) while waiting for you to say something. Mom was always the road trip buddy that was ready for any adventure anywhere and always-always-wanted to talk with everyone she met. She would engage anyone with conversation and would then love to find out if they happened to know any of the same people. She would always ask where they were from, and if she knew that town-any town from anywhere-she would ask if they knew this or that person. She loved conversation with people as much as she loved life. She was fascinating. She was warm. She was our Mother.

For our entire lives, Mom has always talked of our extensive family, friends, and relatives. She had eight siblings just in her family alone, all of who she loved with every beat of her heart. We were reminded of this in nearly every conversation over every year as her face would light with love, and its because of this that none of those names are mentioned here. We love every one of those people as well, but…

…this ones for Mom, Pat Viskocil. The selfless one. The admiral one. The one who carried her head high when life attempted to push it down. This time its about the person who always said "Well, what can you do? You have to accept it and move on." Well Mom, its heartbreaking to take that advice when its you were supposed to be moving on from: Our rock. Our strength. Our best friend.

If you want to remember our Mother, then step outside and admire nature. Admire nice people. Admire the creations and history of civilizations, and admire our ability to come together instead of pushing apart. She lived her life in this way every day. Every one. She loved camping, snowmobiling, boating, fishing, flowers, walks, cooking, etc etc etc. She loved everything and everyone. To those of you who loved her too, we thank you with all of our hearts. We love you too. We are devastated, but we are strong. We have her in us, and we are graced with the paper Mom wrote about five years ago, telling her entire life story to us with amazing detail and memory of names, faces, dates and places. She wanted us to have everything from her that we never had from our Dad: a long life of memories. Our Father was taken much too soon and so was our Mother. We will always miss them both.

Again, thank you all for loving her. She deserved every bit of it.

-With Love, Mark and Stacy
Visitation will be held from 4-7PM on Wednesday, March 13, 2019 at Dennis Funeral & Cremation Services in Waseca, and will continue for one hour before the service at the funeral home on Thursday.
Funeral services will be held at 11:00AM on Thursday, March 14, 2019 at Dennis Funeral & Cremation Services in Waseca, with Rev. Gene Witte officiating.  Interment will take place at Trebon Cemetery in Rice County.  dennisfuneralhomes.com