Patricia L. Burgstahler

A Memorial Mass will be recited at 10 a.m. Saturday, June 19, 2010 at the St. Joseph Catholic Church in Topeka, KS  for Patricia L. “Pat” Burgstahler, 75, Lawrence, KS.  Private inurnment will be in Mt. Calvary Cemetery in Lawrence, KS.  She died on Saturday, April 17, 2010 at her home, surrounded by her family.

She was born on March 27, 1935 in Detroit, Michigan, the daughter of Louis J. & Stella Glowacki Bokor.

She received her Bachelor of Arts from Nazareth College in Kalamazoo, MI in 1956.  She later received her Master of Arts in Music Therapy from the University of Kansas in 1958.

Mrs. Burgstahler taught private piano lessons for fifty years.  She had taught many young people in Lawrence and the surrounding area, from her home.

She was a member of the Saint Joseph Catholic Church in Topeka, KS (associated with Society of St. Peter, Maple Hill, KS). Most recently, she had been attending Saint Lawrence Catholic Center in Lawrence. She was an active member of the Lawrence Accredited Music Teachers’ Association, an active bridge player with many master points and she received the Distinguished Teacher Award, given by the White House Commission on Presidential Scholars under President George H.W. Bush in 1992.

She was married to Albert W. Burgstahler in August 1957 in Detroit, MI.  He survives of the home.

Other survivors include  three daughters; Maria Bokor, of Tacoma, WA, Janet Anderson and Jennifer Burgstahler, both of Durango, CO, two sons; Albert Paul Burgstahler, of Annandale Church, VA, David Frederick Burgstahler, of New York City, NY, two sisters; Theresa Olshesky, of Taylor, Mi, Lorraine Reich, of Atlanta, GA, ten grandchildren and two great grandchildren.

A Wake Service will be held at 4 p.m. Friday, June 18, 2010 at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Lawrence, KS.  The family will greet friends in the church basement following the wake service.

The family suggests memorials in her name to the Sigma Alpha Iota (Beta Beta KU Chapter) Music Scholarship Fund and may be sent in care of Warren-McElwain Mortuary in Lawrence.