Memorial Bench for Patty Faas

This fundraiser is to help raise money for a bench in memory of Patty Faas. The bench will be placed next to Patty’s headstone at Rose Hill Cemetery in Mason, Ohio. It will be a spot for Patty’s loved ones to gather and be with her. If you prefer to donate through venmo, donations can be sent to @Emalie-Taylor. Thank you for your consideration and helping us honor Patty. Patricia Erin Faas, age 28, passed away on May 10, 2023 surrounded by an abundance of love and the snuggles of her beloved stuffed dinosaur, "Demi" (Dmitri). In the face of three cancer diagnoses, spanning over 7 years, Patty chased life every day. Patty was born on January 19, 1995 in New Jersey to Jim and Susie Faas. She had the bragging rights of being two minutes older than her twin sister, Emily Faas. Patty and Emily. Emily and Patty. To say they were twins doesn't quite explain the breadth and depth of their connection, nor their love. They squabbled over clothes and who took the other's favorite shirt (Emily) and who would fire back with the sassiest comment (Patty), but anyone who knew Patty knew that the bond she had with Emily was something Patty cherished beyond words that exist in the human language. And when Emily married Dalton, Patty gained a brother who she loved with whole heart, and not just because he would bring her orange juice every morning. Patty began her school career in Mrs. Hastings' kindergarten classroom and graduated from Mason High School in 2013 where she excelled in academics, swimming and as Patty would say "dabbled" in water polo. She developed lasting friendships with her childhood and high school friends who became family: Ashley Feula, Rebekah Barnes, Jessica Hastings, Allison Truckenbrodt, Eva Juszczyk and Tori Martin while getting ready for dances and attending group dinners with platters of chicken nuggets and loads of pizza. She went on to study at the University of Alabama, earned a degree in Biology from Bryan College in Tennessee, and began working toward her doctorate at The Ohio State University College of Optometry. A devoted Alabama football fan, she was known (more than once) to relentlessly force her non-Alabama friends to learn ALL the lyrics to "Dixieland Delight" on long car rides where they had no choice, but to acquiesce to her wishes. In each of these places where Patty studied in higher education, she did what Patty does best and that is to build a community of friends, creating her "Alabama crew", her "Tennessee crew", and her "Columbus crew"--pouring herself into each one of these families that she built around the country. While at Bryan College, Patty won first place in 8th Annual Undergraduate Research Conference for her work "Essential Oils: an Herbal Apothecary? She worked her way through college adding to her wide circle of friends at Eyes on Main in Dayton, Tennessee and the Franklin County Board of Health in Columbus, Ohio. Patty was a meticulous list maker and goal oriented. If the goal was to sit up after a major surgery, Patty would want to take a few spins around the hospital floors. If the goal was to walk 1 mile around her neighborhood, Patty would walk 2.6. If the physical therapists wanted her to do at home exercises, no problem. Patty would push her wheelchair behind a luggage rack to get her groceries up to her apartment. It was no different with swimming. Patty didn't just set a goal to get back in the pool. She wanted to compete. One of her proudest accomplishments came in March 2022 when she crushed through seven swim events at the ParaOlympics at Loyola University in Maryland. Patty loved ALL the puppies, and adored Lilly, Sophie and Morg and Berch's Corgis as well as ice cold beverages (specifically a crisp Sprite and pulp free orange juice), Thai food, fuzzy blue Crocs, Taylor Swift and sunsets. You were lucky if you were on the receiving end of a Patty snapshot of a gorgeous sunset from her window at her spacious accommodations at Hotel d' Children's. Patty made a commitment to see the magic in the everyday. She also adored penguins and once wrote quite a pointed letter to the Cincinnati Zoo arguing her case as to why she should get to frolic with the penguins even if she had missed the official "Penguin Palooza Day." Side note: she got to see those penguins. Patty could be pretty persuasive. Patty loved to travel. And travel, she did-from Lambeau field with her dad to studying abroad in Italy, to Miami for Emily's memorable Bachelorette Bash to New York for the Macy's Day parade to a pilgrimage to Joshua trees in Palm Springs, from Taylor Swift in Houston to the boat ride in St. Thomas. On one very special trip to Oregon for cancer survivors, Patty kayaked, went white water rafting and cliff jumped. Wherever she traveled and whomever she was with, Patty committed to her journeys soaking up a lifetime of memories while she did it. People often called Patty brave. And, she was. She, however, probably would've preferred the other names by which she was known: sister, daughter, cousin, friend, Patty, Pat, P. Faas, Patrice, Patricia (when she was being particularly insistent), "The Bald Icon" and Emily's Buggie. The absolute joy that Patty put into living her life will be carried on by those who loved her most. Patty is survived by her parents: Susie and Jim, her sister Emily, her brother-in-law, Dalton, and her niece Lilly Pup.