Patricia Sibbitt

Pat Sibbitt, age 91, died in Northglenn, CO on July 20, 2022. She was born Patricia Ann Palen on April 29, 1931 in Scott County, Kansas. She graduated from Scott Community High School in 1949 and married Myron Charles Sibbitt in 1952. They lived in Scott City for twenty years where she worked for the Scott County Office of Records. Pat and Myron moved to Northglenn, CO in 1972 where she earned a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Accounting from Regis University and worked for Fresh Vegetable Packaging Company in Denver until she retired. Pat’s childhood mostly no longer exists today. She grew up on a ranch in the treeless plains of Western Kansas where they had to move the cows, horses, sheep, goats and chickens into barns at night to protect them from wolves. Pat rode a horse to a country school and learned how to cook on a wood-burning stove. We may think she was deprived, but she always said people enjoyed their lives on the farms. As an adult, Pat participated in the activities of the Orphan Train Heritage Society of America. The Orphan Train was a Catholic charity that arranged for orphaned children on the East Coast to be adopted by farm families in the Midwest. Pat’s mother always knew she was adopted but didn’t know anything beyond that. Through careful research, Pat discovered that her mother was born in New York City in 1903. She learned further that her grandmother gave the infant to the New York Foundling Hospital where she lived until she was adopted by a family in the Texas Panhandle when she was eight years old. Pat was always focused on preserving the family history and she was particularly proud of discovering the history of her mother’s early years. Pat is survived by her sister Karen Deslongchamp of Norman, OK, brother Samuel Palen of Belize, son David and wife Luiza of Queens, NY, daughter Suzanne Hammerschmidt and husband Dave of Northglenn, daughter Marcille Sibbitt of Oakland, CA, and great-grandson Caden. Pat was preceded in death by her parents Lawrence and Estella Palen, her husband Myron, her brothers Lawrence, Wilfred (“Bud”) and Jim, her sister Lucille, and her grandson Nicholas Hammerschmidt. Funeral services will be held at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Northglenn. A reception will take place after the funeral. Pat will be buried with her husband at Fort Logan Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation in her name to her favorite charity, the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital at www.stjude.org