Toni graduated from Satellite Beach High School in Satellite Beach, Florida, and received her Associate Degree in Nursing from Phoenix College in 1977.
She married Paul Patino on 24 June 1967 and was days away from celebrating her 55th wedding anniversary.
A resident of Phoenix for over 51 years, Toni had a long, fulfilling career working in all aspects of healthcare. Her interest in nursing and helping others began as a teenager in Brevard, Florida as a volunteer at a local hospital. Her career provided a full range of opportunities and experiences, including clinical work in the ER, on NICUs, ICUs, Burn Units, and providing health services on Indian Reservations and in Assisted Living Facilities. She was most fond of her time spent in the NICU, lovingly working with babies who needed special care.
She dedicated much of her time to various organizations as a volunteer including Eastern Star, Phoenix Boys Club, Flights for Life, Order of True Kindred, Phoenix 99s (Women Pilots Association), Palmer Drug Abuse Program, Az Aviation Historical Society, and the local chapter of the Naval Order of the U.S. to name a few. She always exhibited an entrepreneurial spirit through which she built countless friendships and was an active member of the Chandler Chamber of Commerce.
She enjoyed traveling with her husband, having had a chance to experience amazing places in the US and overseas, such as Europe, Turkey, Hawaii, Caribbean, South America, cruising the Panama Canal, cruising around Cape Horn, staying on Ipanema Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and many others. Her favorite visits were to Santiago, Chile (Paul’s birthplace), the mountains above Ephesus, Turkey, to see the house of Mary, Christ’s mother, Sedona, AZ, and deep in Mexico to visit Paul’s cousins. Toni enjoyed painting, studying the Renaissance masters, using her plane and private pilot’s license in her volunteer work and in air racing for fun, and being passionate about all sports especially basketball, drag racing, NASCAR, and football, attending the 2015 Super Bowl in Phoenix
Born to Jim and Trudy Nocks, she was raised from an early age by Jim and her stepmother, Hilda Nocks. She is preceded in death by her father, mother, stepmother, son Paul Andrew, sister Nicole, and brother-in-law, Jack Eatinger.
She will be missed and was most cherished by her husband of 54 years, Paul, surviving son, Kyle Patino (Caroline) Garnet Valley, PA, her dear granddaughters, Cecilia and Bernadette Patino, her sisters, Linda Shah (Ravi), Indialantic, FL, Jeanette Eatinger, Hot Springs Village, AR, and her brother, Jim Michael Nocks (Cherie) Orlando, FL.
We will always love you, remember you, and celebrate you. A donation to the charity of your choice on her behalf is appreciated
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