Patricia (Patty) Ann Zimmer
(née McCarthy)

Patricia (Patty) Ann Zimmer (née McCarthy), aged 68, passed away peacefully in California on Sunday, June 11th, 2023, surrounded by loved ones. She was born in Boston, Massachusetts on October 29, 1954, to Mary Brigid McCarthy (née Flynn) of Leitrim and Denis Joseph McCarthy of Bantry. Patty was the second daughter of seven children. Growing up, she moved around frequently as her father was in the U.S. Air Force, relocating every few years. She moved to York, England at age one; to Sacramento, California, in her toddler years; to Hahn Air Force Base in Germany in her elementary and junior high school years; then back stateside to San Bernardino, California, where she went to high school and nursing school.

Her family made frequent trips to Ireland over the years, especially while living in England and Germany, and it was always her “happy place.” She would later own a home on Summerhill in Bantry near where her father Denis was born. For almost 25 years, her parents Denis and Mary split their time between California and Bantry. Many Bantry neighbors and family said they knew it was summer when Denis and Mary opened their windows on Chapel Street and Parade Field for those enjoyable summer months. Patty visited Ireland frequently over the years, and always loved popping into the charity shops, sitting down to a cuppa tea with family and friends, chatting with anyone and everyone she came across at the Friday Fair Days, and soaking in the beautiful bay views on her walks.

Led by a calling to help others, she became a registered nurse in 1976, and went on to get her bachelor of science degree from California State Fullerton in 1981. She had a vibrant nursing career, working as a critical care nurse at several Southern California hospitals — including St Bernardine Medical Center in San Bernardino and UCLA and Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles — and a corporate nurse at Union Bank and Baxter medical supply company. For almost 30 years she worked at Providence Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo, California, where she was the Employee Health nurse. She was often the first person employees met on their first day of work, and she would continue giving them regular flu shots and smiles over the years. She loved learning about other peoples’ lives and hearing their stories, and was always expanding her mind at nursing conferences.

A devout Catholic, she regularly attended daily mass. She had a servant’s heart and was always thinking of others. She actively volunteered with her church parishes, dropping off donations to the food pantry, checking blood pressures on nursing days, and listening to others during grief sessions. In 2014, she traveled to Jamaica on a mission trip, treating the poor and sick. She loved playing Peppa Pig with her granddaughter Frances (Franny), trying new restaurants with her son Joey and daughter Erin, driving up and down the California highways to a multitude of McCarthy family events and holiday gatherings, and she was always planning her next trip to Ireland. Her final days were spent praying the rosary, listening to Danny Boy and other favorite songs, and being surrounded by family and friends sharing favorite Patty memories. We miss her warm heart and adventurous spirit.

She is survived by her two children Erin and Joey; her granddaughter Frances; her five siblings Teresa, Michael, Monica, Tom, and Denny; her son-in-law Andrew; her sisters-in-law Kim, Kathy, and Nicole and brothers-in-law Roy and Bill; her nieces Kelly, Megan, Claire, Ella, Keira, Mary, Kathleen, Denise, and Bernie; her nephews Michael, Conor, Brendan, William, Gavin, Ryan, Riley, and Rowan; her aunts Sally and Ruth; her uncles Conor and Frank; and her former husband Earl. She was predeceased by her mother Mary McCarthy (December 2022), her father Denis McCarthy (September 2010), and her sister Kathy O’Regan (April 2023). She meant so much to so many people and she will forever live on in our hearts.

Her funeral mass took place at Saint Timothy Catholic Church in Laguna Niguel, California, on Friday, June 23rd. Friends and family gathered together after the mass at Patsy’s Irish pub to share favorite Patty memories while eating corned beef tacos and enjoying pints of Guinness and Patty’s favorite drink, Irish coffee.

Her memorial mass will take place at St. Finbarr's Catholic Church in Bantry on Thursday, August 3rd, at 12 noon (livestreamed on bantryparish.ie). The mass will be followed by a procession to the Abbey Cemetery where she will rejoin her parents, Denis and Mary McCarthy, who she recently buried with her six siblings and extended family in February 2023.

“Ar dheis Dé go raibh a hanam dílis.”

At God’s right hand may her precious soul rest.

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