Patricia M. Kaler

Patricia Ann Martin Kaler, 81, of San Antonio, went to be with her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ early Saturday morning, December 17, 2016. A faithful and humble servant of the Lord, she was Mom and Grammy to her family, Pat to her loving husband of 59 years and to her close friends, and Mrs. Kaler to her students.

Patricia, or Pat as she was known, was born to the late Frank Edward Lowther and Gertrude Catherine Cooke on December 27, 1934 in Wichita, Kansas. Later adopted by Jim Martin, Pat grew up in Corpus Christi, Texas where she graduated Salutatorian from Incarnate Word Academy in 1952. She married her high school sweetheart, the late John A. Kaler, in 1953. Together they raised six children (excuse us, our Mom would correct us to say “reared” and then inform us that “you raise animals”).

With six small children, she managed to attend Del Mar College in Corpus Christi, graduating with an Associate in Arts in 1968 and Texas A&I University in Kingsville, graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education with Cum Laude honors in 1969. Pat later went on to earn a Master of Science from Texas A&I University in Corpus Christi in 1975. She only forgot one child on the nursery steps one day!

Mrs. Kaler completed 15 years of loyal service to the students and community of Corpus Christi teaching English at Cullen Junior High School and King High School. She and our dad, John, moved to San Antonio, Texas in 1984 where she taught English an additional 19 years at Holmes High School. She loved Shakespeare, American Literature, and Poetry, but was passionate about teaching her students (and her children) the correct use of grammar in both the written and spoken word. Her students admired her as evidenced by their countless notes thanking her for challenging them to stretch their imagination, encouraging them to be their best, showing them patience, kindness and understanding; ultimately making a difference in their lives!

In addition to teaching, she enjoyed reading, family time, traveling, sewing, cooking, entertaining, being with her friends, playing Bridge, book club, going to lunch, and doting on her little dog, GiGi. She loved a good bargain and could never pass up a cute pair of shoes! She was a compassionate, empathetic, understanding, tolerant, kind, elegant lady and confidant to her friends. She never met a stranger and she always welcomed our friends for dinner. She was a true example of a Christian woman, a loving wife and helpmate to her husband, John. An example she passed on to her daughters, daughter-in-laws, and her granddaughters. She always kept a positive attitude and she had a wonderful sense of humor. She kept the following stuck to the refrigerator door as a reminder of the family she would lovingly leave behind: “The family. We are a strange little band of characters trudging through life sharing diseases and toothpaste, coveting one and another’s desserts, hiding shampoo, borrowing money, locking each other out of our rooms, inflicting pain and kissing to heal it in the same instant, loving, laughing, defending, and trying to figure out the common thread that bound us all together.” That thread was you, Mom, and your unending love for the Lord, your husband, and your children. Her greatest joy was her family and she was most proud that each of her six children were baptized and earned college degrees.

Pat is survived by her six children: Mary Kaye Wheat, Nancy Hobbs and husband John, John Kaler II, and wife Donna, Barbara Woods and husband George, Martin Kaler and wife Debbie, and Andrea Sutton and husband Jeff; twelve grandchildren: Nichole and husband Rick Weil, Kathleen and husband Travis Neumann, Ashley and husband Johnny McGee, John III (Trey) and wife Mindy, Jared, Andrew and wife Kristen, Zach and wife Maggie, Kelsi, Kaley, Josh, Bryce and Matt; seven great-grandchildren: Rae, Cole Harrison, Lea, Annesley, Brooks, and Peyton; as well as one great-grandchild due to arrive this February! We will ALL miss her smile, her laughter, her loving arms and her singing, but we are comforted to know we will see her again.

Visitation will be at 2:00 p.m., Friday, December 23, 2016 at Sunset Funeral Home with the Funeral Service to be at 3:00 p.m. Interment will follow at Sunset Memorial Park.