Patricia J. LaMontagna

Patricia JoAnn LaMontagna passed away peacefully on Saturday June 8th, 2024, by her family and friends.

Patricia was born on January 31st, 1947, to Eleanor Ciancanelli in Chicago, IL. She was adopted as an infant by John J. (Rose) Paolella and personally chosen by her older brother John M. Paolella who desperately wanted a little sister. Patty, as she was called as a child, grew up in her family’s restaurant called Paolella’s on Chicago Ave. She attended Our Lady of The Angels parish and school and survived the fire there in 1958. She was a feisty child, headstrong, creative, independent, free thinking, and loved her family and friends fiercely. During her adolescent years she was a member of the Vanguard Drum and Bugle Corps Marching Band. She graduated from Siena Catholic Girls High school in 1965 and went on to attend Loyola University. She worked at O’Hare International Airport for Flying Tigers Air Cargo Transport and bought her favorite car, a Ford Mustang.

 In 1977, she was one of the first female cadets to join the Cook County Sheriff’s Police Department as a police officer. She worked in the radio room in Maywood, on patrol out of Rolling Meadows, and in the VICE unit for the next 25+ years. She retired in 2002 and went on to work part-time at JoAnn Fabrics. Reading, journaling, word searches, crafting, painting, crochet, coffee, The Chicago Blackhawks, The New Zealand All Blacks Rugby Team, and soap operas (her stories) as she called them were all a big part of her life.

 She has a stroke in 2008 and after healing and rehab, she volunteered as a stroke group moderator and aphasia instructor for first responders for many years at Resurrection hospital on the northwest side of Chicago. She moved to the Poplar Grove/Rockford area in 2012 to be closer to her daughter and her growing family. She was a member of The Stateline Stroke Support Group and a dedicated volunteer faithfully every year at stroke camp in Oregon, IL. She made many lifelong friends through the stroke group and cherished each and every one of them.

 Above all though, her grandchildren were her passion. She attended their births, witnessed their milestones, and was active in their school activities and sports, and absolutely adored by them as their Nini. She had adventures over the years with her daughter, son-in-law Scott, and grandkids in her later years on trips to WY, SC, FL, WI, and of course her beloved Chicago.

 She was an active 4Greyhoundracers meet and greet volunteer with her beloved greyhound, Spartacus, and had adopted a kitten named Mia from her daughter’s farm. She had a heart of gold, showed kindness and friendship to everyone and anyone she met, she could chat for hours, and she survived on coffee and crochet most of the time. Being a volunteer was central to who she was.

 She is survived by her daughter Jacqueline (Scott) Anderson, grandchildren Noah, Simon, Sonora, Thorin, River, and Kasper, Brother Dr. John M (Ann) Paolella, niece Jennifer (Patrick) Clyder, great nephew Charlie, great nieces Nora, and Maggie, sister Felicia Elias (Mark), and nephew Nathan, and niece Kira Miriam, her bonus daughter Debra Schultz, grandkids Noah, and Elijah Mack, and her many, many, great friends and family.

 She is preceded in death by her parents John and Rose, her mom Eleanor, her five aunts, lovingly called “The Dollie Sisters”, her beloved aunt Mary Rose Paolella, her many cousins, but especially Freddy, and Jerry, and her grandchildren Baby Anderson, and Sigrid Rumi Helene.