Born on September 16, 1940, to Roy C. and Victoria Moberg, Pat grew up in the Merriam Park neighborhood of St. Paul. She enjoyed fishing with her dad, biking, and playing with the family pets. Pat attended Longfellow Grade School, and showed a deep faith in God. Though her parents were not churchgoers, Pat attended religious instruction on her own initiative, being baptized, confirmed, and making her first communion at St. Mark's Catholic Church.

At Central High, she became involved in the school newspaper, yearbook and Junior Achievement, and also worked at the Emporium and Woolworth's in downtown St. Paul. She also showed an early interest in the Civil Rights Movement, and contemplated becoming a "Freedom Rider" in the South.

While attending the University of Minnesota Pat became involved in sorority activities and served as the secretary of the History Department. She met Morris Gildemeister, and they married in 1962 and moved to Kentucky. While there, Pat worked on Hubert Humphrey's 1964 Vice-Presidential campaign. Son Christopher was born, then in 1967 the family moved to a new suburban development in Hastings, where daughter Melissa was born.

In Hastings, Pat was both a dedicated homemaker and a volunteer extraordinaire. As secretary at St. Philip's Lutheran Church, "room mother" for both children at Pinecrest Elementary, school PTA, election judge, Meals on Wheels, Concert Association, Cable Commission, St. John's (WELS) Women's Circle, and Epsilon Sigma Alpha Sorority, Pat served not only her family, but the entire community.

As a mom, Pat showed her love in myriad ways. She encouraged her children to be their best, while teaching them the loving closeness of their Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Always there for her kids, she helped with projects, cheered them on in all their activities, took interest in their interests, and celebrated them in ways big and small. She kept large and meticulous photo albums, with many pictures of family, travel, and events, each carefully and lovingly annotated so that future generations would know what (and who!) they were looking at.

Pat also brought holidays to life. The sights, sounds, and smells of each special holiday penetrated the home. Christmas was one of her very favorite times of the year. With the scent of warm lemon cookies, the sparkling tree, excursions to view Christmas light displays, and the importance of Christmas Eve service, Pat brought festive joy to celebrating Christ's birth!

She and Morris divorced in the early 1990's. Pat then attended the University of Wisconsin-River Falls and earned a degree in Journalism. Thereafter, she worked in the commercial loan department of Midway National Bank in St. Paul.

In 1998, Pat married Gene Schwope and moved to Woodbury. She applied her Journalism skills to the St. Paul Camera Club, the Twin Cities Area Council of Camera Clubs, and the North Central Camera Club Council, where she served as newsletter editor (winning several awards), Secretary, President, and in many other roles. She also participated in a project at St. James Lutheran Church, West St. Paul, where she photographed the stained glass windows and architecture of St. James, along with many church events like Confirmation classes and Vacation Bible School.

Pat loved the arts, from poetry and theatre to literature, music, and visual arts. An accomplished photographer, Pat had an eye, ear, and heart for beauty. She soaked in the splendor of sunsets, crashing waves and soaring gulls, and changing seasons along the North Shore. Gene and Pat loved travelling together, exploring and photographing landscapes, architecture, nature, and historic sites on both coasts, as well as the West. (While travelling, she sent her grandkids daily postcards from the various locales she visited.) They also enjoyed entertainment together, from plays, concerts, and musicals at the Phipps Center in Hudson, Wisconsin, to all kinds of music – from orchestral, piano tunes and marching bands to John Denver and Neil Diamond (Pat's favorite)! Pat embraced sculpture, paintings and textile arts, too. Pat loved blown glass, hand-painted Ukrainian Easter eggs, and glittering, sequined and beaded Christmas tree ornaments.

Pat could often be found reading the daily paper, working crosswords or Suduku puzzles, or watching murder mysteries such as Columbo, Blue Bloods, or Jesse Stone. (She was also a devoted fan of the soap opera General Hospital, from its first episode in 1963 nearly until her death.) When it came to cuisine, Pat knew what she liked, be it lobster in butter, asparagus, and sweet corn on the cob, to caramel rolls, salt water taffy, and dark chocolate covered cherries.

A devoted grandmother who embraced caring for her grandsons a few days each week, Pat helped them learn and explore through reading, art, and outings to the park, library, area nature preserves, theatre, History Center, and train museums. She also enjoyed spoiling all her grandkids with gifts and treats from McDonalds and Dairy Queen. So dedicated was she to her grandchildren that, when considering a move to Oregon, she decided against it, not wanting to be too far from her grandchildren.

Pat shared her joy with the world through her beaming smile, twinkling eyes, warm hugs, and loud laughs. A generous giver of gifts, Pat lavished her love on others, always desiring that her loved ones know how she cherished them. From annual Christmas ornaments tailored to each individual's hobbies, to sharing articles pertaining to their personal interests, Pat wanted loved ones to know she was thinking of them.

And we do. Inflicted with heart, lung, and kidney problems, on October 11 Pat was taken to be with God in her 84th year. Though gone physically from this earth, the immense love Pat shared lives on, bound not by time nor space, but rather living and breathing, by the grace of God as near as ever.

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Pat is survived by husband Gene Schwope, of Woodbury; son Christopher Gildemeister (Carma) of Hastings; daughter Melissa Uzelac (Mike) of Brooklyn Park; step-daughter Laura Capistrant (Josh) of St. Paul; and grandchildren Joseph, Benjamin, Isaac, and Theo.

A Memorial Service will be held at 12PM Friday October 18, 2024 at St. James Lutheran Church, 460 Annapolis St. W., West St. Paul (651-457-9232), with visitation at 11 AM Luncheon following service. Interment at Sunset Cemetery, 2250 St. Anthony Blvd., Minneapolis, following luncheon.

In lieu of flowers, memorials preferred to Phipps Center for the Arts, 109 Locust St, Hudson, WI 54016.