Patricia "Pat" (Steeley) Wolfinger

Patricia "Pat" Steeley Wolfinger, 71, a former long-time resident of West Rockhill Township and Sellersville, passed away on Friday evening, April 3, 2009, at her residence in the Lutheran Community at Telford, surrounded by her children, after a valiant battle with pancreatic cancer. She was the beloved wife of the late Thomas D. Wolfinger, who died in 1999, to whom she was married for 43 years.

Born in West Rockhill Township, she was the daughter of the late William E. and Catharine (Booz) Steeley. She was a 1955 graduate of Pennridge High School.

Pat graduated from the Lansdale School of Business and had been employed in the late 1950s as a bookkeeper with Kramer’s Creamery, Franconia. She later worked as a secretary for Rufe and Rufe, Attorneys, Sellersville, in the early 1960s and, until 1970, was a clerk for District Justice Kathryn L. Stump, Quakertown. During the 1970s and most of the 1980s, she was employed as an estate appraiser with the Pennsylvania Inheritance Tax Department. She later became an investment advisor with Quakertown National Bank (QNB).

Following her retirement from QNB in the early 1990s, she had worked part-time as a bookkeeper with Belle Haven Nursing Home, Quakertown. She was also a successful Avon representative, earning status in the President’s Cup Club.

Mrs. Wolfinger was a long-time member of St. Michael’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, Sellersville, where she had served on Church Council, with several terms as president, most recently in 2007; the New Pastor Call Committee; and various other committees, including the Worship Committee and the church’s annual Winterfest participation.

She was a member and past president of both the Souderton/Telford and the former Pennridge Business and Professional Women’s (BPW) clubs, and had served as a state and national delegate for BPW. She was also a member of the Perkasie Woman’s Club.

Pat was involved with the Lutheran Community at Telford, where she had served on the Corporation Board and as a member of the Auxiliary. She also volunteered on several committees, serving as a residential liaison representative.

Always politically active, Mrs. Wolfinger was a former Upper Bucks County Democratic Committee Woman. She was also a past officer of the 145th Democratic Organization and the Pennridge Democratic Club. She also worked the election polls in West Rockhill Township and Sellersville.

Pat and her husband traveled extensively, including yearly trips to Washington, D.C. In 1997 they retired to Lakeside, Montana. She was an active member of Northridge Evangelical Lutheran Church, Kalispell, Montana, and president of the Kalispell BPW.

She returned to Sellersville in 2001, where she continued her church and civic volunteerism. After being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2001, she became active with the National MS Society and helped to establish the annual Walk MS in Lake Lenape Park. Pat had also been a member of the Pennridge Community Senior Center, Perkasie, the Women of the Moose Chapter #471, Sellersville, and a charter member of the Pennridge Kiwanis Club.

A woman of great faith, Pat had met adversity in life with grace and tenacity. Blessed with humor and great charm, she loved her active social schedule. She especially loved dining out with family and friends.

She is survived by her three children: Scott Wolfinger, and his wife, Laura, of Telford; Kevin Wolfinger, and his wife, Lori, of Quakertown; and Robin Rowell, and her husband, Tyler, of Wilmington, Delaware; a brother, James D. Steeley, and his wife, Marty, of Sellersville; eight grandchildren: Stephanie Wolfinger, of Baltimore, Maryland; Jamie Kelly, and her husband, Jeffrey, of Raleigh, North Carolina; Alicia Wolfinger, of Perkasie; Amanda Wolfinger; Scott Wolfinger, both of Quakertown; Natalie Rowell; Nathan Rowell, both of Wilmington, Delaware; and Daniel Berkery, of Telford; and one great-granddaughter, Ella Cron, of Quakertown.

In addition to her husband, she was preceded in death by a brother, William B. Steeley, and her step-mother, Betty Meier Steeley.

Her Funeral Service will be held on Wednesday, April 8, 2009, at 11:00 A.M. in St. Michael’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, 25 East Church Street, Sellersville, PA 18960, where family and friends may call Wednesday morning, from 9:30 A.M. until time of service.

Interment will be in Whitemarsh Memorial Park, Prospectville.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in Pat’s memory to St. Michael’s Evangelical Lutheran Church at the above address.