Patsy Joan Garlits Obituary (1938

Patsy Joan Garlits, 83, passed away on Thursday, February 3, 2022 in Mt. Pulaski, Illinois. Patsy Joan Ingram was born on June 21, 1938 in Kenney, Illinois to Vivian Byrne Ingram and Kenneth "Smokey" Ingram, the first of 3 daughters. Patsy graduated from Mt. Pulaski High School in 1956 and married the love of her life, John "Butch" Garlits in January 1957. They began their marriage in Pensacola, Florida where Butch was in the Navy. Butch and Patsy were blessed with four children, Noel Wayne, Jon Brett, JoAnne Elaine and Melanie Nicole. They made homes in Pensacola, FL, Decatur, IL and Champaign, IL before finally settling down in Patsy's hometown of Mt. Pulaski, IL. Butch passed away on February 2, 1982, 40 years and one day before Patsy's passing. We can only believe that she felt 40 years without the love of her life was enough. Patsy worked for Stahl's Hardware and Stahl's Furniture for over 40 years and was an active member at the First Christian Church and in the Mt. Pulaski chapter of American Business Women's Association, later Women in Business. In recent years she enjoyed lunches, shopping trips and activities with her friends from the Red Hat Society. Patsy was surrounded by wonderful friends who kept her social calendar quite active. In 2013, Patsy was blessed with her new title of GiGi with the arrival of her granddaughter, Penelope Elaine Lewis and then again in 2016 when Benjamin John Lewis joined the family. She loved those grandbabies more than just about anything and being a GiGi may have been her favorite role. Patsy was preceded in death by her parents, sister, Vivian Sue Reeves, a nephew, Tyler Reeves and her husband of 25 years, Butch Garlits. Surviving Patsy are her children, Noel Garlits and Jon Brett Garlits of Mt. Pulaski, IL, JoAnne Garlits of Champaign, IL, and Melanie (Brandon) Lewis of Mahomet, IL; her grandchildren, Penelope Elaine Lewis and Benjamin John Lewis of Mahomet, IL, her sister, Linda Krischke-Cole (Jerry) of Springfield, IL, several nieces and nephews and many, many close friends. Services for Patsy will be held at 10:00am on Thursday, February 10, 2022 at Fricke-Calvert-Schrader Funeral Home in Mt. Pulaski, IL. Visitation will take place one hour prior to the service (9:00-10:00am) also at the funeral home. Burial will follow the services at Steenbergen Cemetery in Mt. Pulaski, IL. Memorials can be made to the Boys and Girls Club of Montgomery County (https://bgcmoco.org/how-can-you-support/donate/), Crawfordsville, IN, Down Syndrome Indiana (https://dsindiana.org/donate/make-a-donation/), Mt. Pulaski First Christian Church or a community organization of the donor's choice.