Her favorite holiday.

My mom was a force to be reckoned with and I always miss her this time of year. So I’m sharing two things I wrote for her: both her obituary and the eulogy from her funeral mass. And Happy St. Patrick’s Day to all who celebrate the wonderful traditions and heritage of the Irish. They are a special people and hold a dear place in my heart.

Patricia Lynch Christina

July 15, 1936 -July 14, 2022

Dunkirk and Fredonia have lost a lodestar. Pat Christina was a leader, a mentor, a role model, and an inspiration.  Everything she did, she did with finesse, compassion, style, and boundless energy.  She gave everything she had to her family, her students and to her community.  Pat died at home on Thursday, July 14, 2022, one day shy of her 86th birthday, after a lengthy illness that stole the energy that defined her life. 

Patricia Lynch Christina grew up in Erie, Pennsylvania.  She was born on July 15, 1936 to Florence and Joseph Lynch. She was one of five children in the Lynch family.  It was as a young woman in Erie that she developed a keen sense of civic duty and commitment to others.  Pat missed her high school commencement ceremony because she was chosen to speak at the American Red Cross conference in San Francisco in 1954.  She was a gifted public speaker and her dedication as a volunteer, assembling and sending aid packages to people suffering from disasters earned her this honor.

After graduating from East High School in 1954, she worked full time and attended Villa Maria College, earning a teaching degree.  She completed her graduate degree at Fredonia State College while at the same time substitute teaching, raising three young children, and overseeing the building of the family’s home in Castile Heights.  

While she was still “Miss Lynch”, she taught at Dunkirk High School where by all accounts she had high standards but was beloved by her students.  It was while teaching in Dunkirk that she met high school band director Andrew Christina. Pat and Andy were married in St. Ann’s Roman Catholic church in Erie on December, 26, 1964.  They celebrated their 50th anniversary with their three children and other family members in Erie in December, 2014.  

Pat taught at several schools throughout Chautauqua County;  Brocton, Fredonia, Silver Creek and Cassadaga, but she finished her career, coming full circle and retiring from Dunkirk in 1999. She was extremely proud to be a Dunkirk teacher and would promote the school and its students at every opportunity.   She taught with passion and conviction. She was thrilled when they asked her to be the Master of Ceremonies for high school graduation several years in a row.

Pat lived a life of service, enriching this community through her many acts of volunteering.  She was a member of the League of Women Voters, a board member of COI, she was an active member of the Dunkirk Teachers Association, and was an elected member of the board of the Town of Pomfret for 21 years.  She was also a past member of the AAUW, St. Anthony’s Bishop’s Committee and the Dunkirk American Legion Auxiliary. She was the recipient of the Fredonia Chamber of Commerce Spirit of Fredonia Award in 2004 and she was honored for her service by the Chautauqua County Chamber of Commerce in 2011.  Pat was instrumental in helping to write the grant that created the Chautauqua County Teachers’ Center. She worked tirelessly to help create the Fredonia-Pomfret Office of the Aging Senior Center.  She was also part of the group of civic leaders and grape farmers that established the Concord Grape Belt Heritage Association. She was active in the Newman Center, teaching religious education, helping to create Education Sundays, travelling with fellow parishioners to volunteer at Friends of the Night People in Buffalo.  After she retired, she was active in the Chautauqua County Retired Teachers Association, serving a term as president, organizing guest speakers for monthly luncheons.

Pat had an innate sense of ethics, integrity and generosity. She was a fierce defender of the underdog and imparted those values to her family, her students, and anyone who knew her.  She was always game for an adventure or a road trip.  She cherished her family and made a beautiful home. She was a fantastic cook, hosting hundreds of dinner parties and holiday gatherings for family and friends. She took pleasure in spending time by the water, and had a special fondness for Presque Isle.  She had strong opinions,  a sharp wit, was a voracious reader, and was able to discuss, with facts and reason, politics, religion, culture, literature, theater, you name it.  Rousing discussions were frequently held around the Christina family dinner table. She loved anything and everything related to the Irish, frequently recalling her father asking “What would you be if you weren’t Irish?  You’d be ashamed”, and noting that St. Patrick’s Day was “the loveliestl night of the year”.

 One of her most cherished traditions was traveling twice a year to New York City with her daughter where they traversed Manhattan from the Lower East Side to the Upper West Side.  Even when it was difficult for her to walk, she would persevere to the Elizabeth Arden spa for an afternoon of pampering, followed by dinner and cocktails at Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola at Jazz at Lincoln Center.  And of course,  shopping at Lord & Taylor and Macy’s.  She also loved attending the theater and listening to live music.  A special memory was going by herself one year while in NYC to Lincoln Center to see Alan Alda in the play QED at the Vivian Beaumont Theater.  Alda was one of her most favorite actors. She was able to score a last-minute front row ticket for the sold-out performance.  Pat always figured out a way to have fun and make things happen.

She was proud to have been able to meet many important leaders in the Democratic Party, from John F. Kennedy during the 1960 presidential race to Bill Clinton in 1992, to Hillary Clinton during her run for senate in 2000.  She visited Senator Chuck Schumer several times at his office in Manhattan when she was there for the Association of Town Boards annual conferences.  As staunch a Democrat as she was, she was happy to join forces with any elected official when they were working toward the same goal, making the community work for everyone. She had the ability to forge relationships with many people across the political aisle.  Pat was the living embodiment of the spirit of John F. Kennedy’s quote, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.”  She leaves  a lasting legacy of which her family is immensely proud.

Pat is survived by her husband Andrew, daughter Kara Christina and son-in-law Andrew Ludwig of Fredonia, son Barrett Christina and partner Jodie Corbeil of Dover, New Hampshire, a sister, Sr. Rita Lynch of North East, Pennsylvania, and her beloved grandchildren Diana Ludwig, Owen Ludwig, Tatum Christina and Piper Christina. She is also survived by several very dear nieces, nephews and cousins.

Pat was sadly predeceased by her son Brian Christina in May, 2022.  Also by her brothers Robert Lynch and his wife Hattie, James Lynch and his wife Madeline, and sister Evelyn Kiehlmeier and her husband James. Friends are invited to a memorial mass at St. Anthony of Padua Roman Catholic Church in Fredonia on Saturday, August 6 at noon and a celebration of life at Manning’s on the Lake (Demetri’s) directly following. If desired, donations may be made to Roswell Park Cancer Institute, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, the League of Women Voters, or the Democratic candidate of your choice.  

The following was one of her favorite quotes and she lived by this code. “There is a destiny that makes us brothers.  No one goes his way alone.  All that we send into the lives of others comes back into our own.”  Edwin Markham

Patricia Lynch Christina

Someone said to me recently that my mom was a remarkable woman. She was. The sheer number of people whose lives she touched is too many to count. There are too many stories to tell of all the adventures, tales and experiences to encapsulate and share here today. So being the English-teacher daughter of an English teacher, and in the grand tradition of Irish story-telling, I would like to give you all an assignment. Please share your story of my mom. Share it with a loved one. Share it with a group. Share it with friends. Share stories of her outfits, her shoes (good shoes should always be real leather), her strong opinions, like the best brand of canned tuna (Wegman’s solid white albacore), and how it is very important to string your celery. Her inability to ever be on time, her knack for losing her keys or her credit card. Her love of shopping, and then returning, shoes, purses, makeup, etc. because she already had something just like it in her closet. Her trendsetting, like ordering white wine at the St. Stephen’s Hotel in Brocton back when probably no one else had ever ordered white wine at the St. Stephen Hotel before. How much fun she was, and how she would go on an adventure at the drop of a hat. Road trip to Farm Aid in Chicago? Sure! Wilie Nelson concert? Absolutely! Put on furcoats and head to the Legion to sign in? You bet! Wineries for a few tastings? Yes please! Makeover at the Lancome counter at Macy’s? They are having a free gift with purchase. She was there!

And be sure to share how much she did, for others. Her guiding principle was that love is action. My mom believed that you show your love for others by doing for them. She lived the ideals of a book that was on our bookshelf when we were growing up by philosopher Erich Fromm, that love is a practice, love is a decision, love is a promise. Through her deeds, she showed her love for her family, her students, and her community. The words of an Irish proverb are apt; Ar scatch a cheile a mhaireann na daoine ( Air scaw a kayla a warren na theena). Translated this means something close to “ through the shelter of each other, we live”. We are all interconnected. We can’t survive without helping, and without help from, each other.

Share your stories of my mom sheltering, my mom helping, my mom laughing, my mom shopping, my mom cooking, my mom baking, my mom telling people what to do, my mom loving. And in sharing tales of my mom, her spirit and energy will always be with us.