Patricia Bonsib

Patricia Bonsib, 92, of Fort Wayne passed away on June 15, 2020 after a long illness. Patricia was born on December 15, 1927 to the late Carl and Maria Grothouse. She graduated from Central Catholic High School in 1945. While in high school she was a cheerleader, guard on the girls basketball team, and prom queen. She loved to ice skate and was the city-wide ice skating champion in 1944. Patricia married Robert Gladieux after high school. They had three sons, Robert, Stephen and Curtis. Robert Gladieux founded Gladiuex Men’s Ware located in downtown Fort Wayne. After his untimely death in 1962, Patricia successfully managed the business for several years, a remarkable accomplishment at the time for a single mom with three children. In 1964, she married John Bonsib an executive at the Bonsib Advertising Agency. This union included his two daughters, Deborah and Rebecca. Bonsib Advertising later became the largest advertising agency in the state. Patricia played a key role in this growth with supervision of financial matters and other office functions. She played a similar key role following John’s creation of the Citizens Cable Communication Inc. In 1978, they won the Fort Wayne cable franchise. Patricia and John loved to travel taking numerous cruises throughout the world including around the world cruises. Patricia loved rose gardening and produced beautiful bouquets of dried flowers. She also loved to gamble making weekly Saturday trips to casinos; her specialty was video poker. She had many royal flushes and staunchly maintained that she consistently beat the house (a claim, of course, without confirmation). Patricia Bonsib is lovingly remembered by her family for her many fine personal qualities. She was fiercely independent, driving and living on her own until age 90. She was also an attentive and loving spouse and mother. She is survived by five children, Deborah (Michael) Christman, Rebecca (Rob) Bonsib, Robert (Cynthia) Bonsib, Stephen (Christine) Bonsib, and Curtis Bonsib. She had nine grandchildren and four great grandchildren. A private celebration of her life will be held by the family. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to St. Mary’s Soup Kitchen, 1101 Lafayette St., Fort Wayne, Ind. (46802); Community Harvest Food Bank, 999 East Tillman Rd., Fort Wayne, Ind. (46816), or St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church, 10700 Aboite Center Rd., Fort Wayne, Ind. (46804). Klaehn, Fahl & Melton Funeral Home, Fort Wayne is handling arrangements.