Cecelia Frances (Czyzewski) Patton

Mom had wonderful stories to tell and one of them was about a fortune teller named Zaga telling her she was going to live a long, long time; it turns out Zaga was right.   Mom passed away at 102 years of age on Friday, December 11, 2020, at 9:00 p.m.

Mom was a member of the Greatest Generation, born on November 13, 1918; she was always told the bells were still ringing from the celebration of the World War I armistice.  Born to Polish immigrants, Edward Czyzewski and Frances Grelewski Czyzewski in the coal mining town of Vestaburg, PA, her father died and her Mother moved the family to Morgantown, West Virginia, to another coal mining town.  Mom told us about Grandma making moonshine in the 1920’s, hiding it from the Revenue Agents in the stove and hoping it didn’t blow up and about jumping trains as a little girl with her brothers and taking the moonshine to town to sell.  It was hard in the mining camps and the family moved to Meadville in 1929 for a better life.  Somewhere along the line Czyzewski became too much for the school records and Mom was listed as Cecelia Chinoski.  She graduated from Meadville High School in 1937 and was listed as “a very musical young lady”.   Mom started work at Talon Manufacturing, Plant 7, in 1938, and continued working until 1953.

In 1947 she met the handsome and funny William (Bill) C. Patton of Saegertown and to avoid a big wedding they eloped and were married in Catlettsburg, Kentucky, on June 29, 1948.  They settled in Kerrtown, had a daughter, Roberta, moved to Guys Mills, and had a son, Robert.  There were laughs and celebrations, lots of dogs, cats, chickens, ducks and an abandoned lamb to keep things lively and always something going on.  Dad passed away June 5, 1969, and Mom worked various jobs, got certified as a nurse’s aide and worked at Spencer and then Meadville City Hospital until her retirement; she then took private care jobs until the late 1980s.  Mom was smart, feisty, had a great sense of humor and was someone special.  She loved to dance and talked about practicing with her brothers and going to all the local dancehalls in the late 1930’s and 1940’s; she discovered line-dancing at the Senior Center in the 1980’s and fell in love with it.  She loved to bake, make candy, the best pies ever and a killer pizza; her favorite recipes are marked by stained pages in her cookbooks.  Thanksgiving was her favorite holiday, she could be found working for hours in her flowerbeds and garden (which was always fantastic), she loved animals and particularly her dogs and cats, comedy shows, Antiques Roadshow (and she got to attend one in Cleveland), Dancing With The Stars and the movie Titanic; she enjoyed the crossword and crypto quote; she hated snakes.  She spent her 80th birthday in Disney World taking animation lessons, her 90th birthday at a big luncheon bash at Chovy’s and on her 100th birthday we put her picture on a Smucker’s Jelly Jar and gave them to everyone attending a family and friends luncheon – Mom couldn’t believe she was on the label and that she was 100!

Mom loved her family most of all.  She was pre-deceased by her parents; husband, Bill; beloved son, Bob; brothers and sisters-in-law: Richard (Mary) Czyzewski, Pete (Mary) Chinosky, Frank (Mary) Chinoski, George (Flora) Czyzewski and Joe (Betty) Romonoski, nieces and nephews.  She’s survived by her daughter, Roberta Patton-Mahannah and son-in-law, Gary Mahannah; a special niece and her husband that Mom was close to: Janice and Alton Fargo and their daughters and granddaughters; daughter-in-law, Hoa “Rose” Patton and Rose’s children; and 3 nieces and a nephew and their children.  We’ll think of her and remember the fun and laughter.  Mom’s in the arms of the angels now and with the ones she loved that have gone before.  Will love you and miss you always Mom.

Arrangements have been entrusted to Robert W. Waid Funeral Home, Meadville, PA, where memories and condolences may be shared at www.waidfuneralhome.net.  There will be a private graveside service in the summer of 2021.   Memorial contributions can be sent to:  Tamarack Wildlife Center (TWC), 21601 Stull Road, Saegertown, PA  16433.