Patricia Gail Powelson Bardsley

Patricia Gail Powelson Bardsley was born to Max William Powelson and Winona Verle Openshaw in Santaquin, Utah, on August 24, 1935. She grew up spending her summers on her grandmother’s ranch in Goshen. Pat had one younger sister, Bonnie, whom she considered her best friend. Their family moved to Salt Lake City for better work when WWII interrupted Max’s business.

Pat spent her Saturdays at the movies with her lifelong friend, Jane. Eventually, she attended East High School, sang in the school’s a cappella choir, and met her sweetheart, Stanford Ronald Bardsley. She also spoke fondly of going dancing at the Great Saltair.

After high school, Pat attended Brigham Young University where she studied nutrition and was an active sorority sister. She and Stan were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple on June 14, 1957.

Pat was a loving and dedicated mother to three children, Brian, Lori, and Brett. She and Stan built a life in East Millcreek and, later, Olympus Cove. She was also a foster mother to Gerald Nakai, and she stayed in touch with him throughout her life.

Pat always had a few close friends with whom she and Stan would attend the symphony, travel, and spend holidays.

Pat hated flying but visited Europe many times as well as Egypt and even China. She was famous among her family for taking long road trips only to turn around and go home soon after arriving. But she found endless happiness taking her children and grandchildren to Jackson Hole, St. George, Newport Beach, New England, even Europe.

Pat was an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints throughout her life and spent several years working in the Visitor’s Center at Temple Square and later as a temple worker with Stan in the Salt Lake Temple.

Her grandchildren will remember a loving grandmother with seemingly boundless generosity. She was refined and elegant — always well-spoken and beautifully dressed, but never conspicuous or stuffy. She inspired her grandchildren’s best manners, but she laughed easily and loved to hear (and tease) about high school crushes.

Pat kept an impeccably tidy home complete with starched jeans and ironed bedsheets. She loved Thanksgiving and Christmas — and any excuse to bring her family together.

In her later years, Pat was afflicted by Alzheimer’s, but she never failed to recognize her grandchildren’s voices over the phone or to insist they take a trip to her St. George home. She and Stan continued to hold hands everywhere they went until he passed away in July 2022.

In her final moments, Pat asked for all her children to be together with her. Once they were, she quietly slipped out of this life on February 26, 2023.

She leaves behind her younger sister, Bonnie Gritton, and her three children, Brian Douglas Bardsley (Gloria), Lori Ann Bardsley Brown (Brian), and Brett Alan Bardsley (Alison). She is also survived by 11 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren.

A visitation will be held Monday, February 6, at noon at Wasatch Lawn Memorial Park followed by a memorial service at 1:00 and graveside dedication.