Pat Blakeslee passed away with family by her side in Carpinteria, California on November 4, 2020.
Pat was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1929 and met her husband, Richard Cleveland Blakeslee, while attending the University of Chicago. His college teaching career would take them to: Evanston, Illinois; Stevens Point, Wisconsin; and Sepulveda (North Hills), California. While in North Hills, raising five children (three of her own and two from her husband’s previous marriage), Pat completed a Master’s degree in Psychology (1962) from San Fernando Valley State College (now California State University, Northridge). She began her teaching career at Pasadena City College in 1963 and accepted a position at Los Angeles Valley College in 1965 where she taught until 1992. During her time teaching at Valley College she continued her academic pursuits and earned a doctorate in Psychology from UCLA in 1979.
Pat was passionate about family, travel, music, civil rights, reading, birding, and snorkeling. After retirement she and her husband moved permanently to their second home in Carpinteria, CA, and traveled extensively. Pat was a regular attendee of the Camerata Pacifica and Santa Barbara Symphony performances and every summer attended master classes and performances at the Music Academy of the West. A lifelong member of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), she supported a myriad of causes and candidates over the years, contributing as much as she could to organizations such as the Santa Barbara Food Bank and Doctors Without Borders. Until her failing eyesight made it impossible, she was an avid birder and docent at the Carpinteria Salt Marsh and the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden.
Special thanks go to Pat’s first grandchild, Sarah Barbara Trigueiro. Sarah Barbara was a constant visitor and companion to her Grandmother and arranged for Pat to move into her home with her (and her husband Tim Trigueiro) so that Pat would not be isolated from family during the pandemic. The family would also like to thank her caregiver and friend of many years Bianca Perry, as well as Leticia Perez who, along with Bianca, cared for her so lovingly in her last months.
Pat is survived by her three daughters Debbie (Ernie) Crane, Barbara (Mark) McCourt and Sarah (Vance) Blakeslee, a son David (Susan) Blakeslee, and grandchildren Sarah (Tim) Trigueiro, Adam (Sammi) Mascarenas, Kirk Anderson, Alissa McCourt, Mandy McCourt, Laurie (Kip) Clark, Jenny Blakeslee and Andrew (Brandy) Blakeslee. She is predeceased by her husband Richard Cleveland Blakeslee, her son Richard Collins Blakeslee, and her grandson, Charles Blakeslee.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to support the Carpinteria Salt Marsh docent program at City of Carpinteria, Attn: Matt Roberts, 5775 Carpinteria Avenue, Carpinteria, CA 93013.
