Sara Patoc

Sara Nicole Patoc, also known to many as “Poofy,” loved living life to the fullest. She was an educator who dedicated herself to being an inspiration to the children she taught and the coworkers who joined in around her. Sara was a woman who showered others with love and made you feel like you were the most important person around. It didn’t matter if you had known her for 30 years or just met today, she wanted you to feel comfortable, special, happy, and seen.

Sara was fighting two forms of cancer at the time of her passing on June 5th, 2022. Brain cancer found its way into her life in 2017, and she fought it with everything she had. Then, in February of this year, she was diagnosed with a rare form of uterine cancer. She now had a new target to focus her energy on and was ready to continue that fight. Positive thinking allowed her to live every day to the fullest and took joy in making it another day.

Sara married LJ in his home state of Hawaii in 2015. She had come to love Hawaii and to love Hawaiian culture as her own, with his family’s approval of course. She felt truly the happiest and peaceful with his family and the beaches in Hawaii. Having her memorable wedding there allowed people from her other worlds to finally see it for themselves, and she was so right.

Sara is survived by her partner in life, LJ, as well as her father John Goodell and her brothers Brandon (Sara) Goodell and Sean (April) Peery. She is now with her two mothers, Bonnie (birth mom) Goodell and Debbie (stepmom) Goodell whom she loved, honored, and missed every single day of her life.

Sara was loved by so many. In honor of her life, legacy, and memory we will continue to live our lives to the fullest. Her students will move into the world with a piece of her wisdom to change the world she loved so much. She created a family in the 41 years she lived on this earth that included her chosen family in Hawaii as well as her chosen family she made through her friends and their families. She may not have been survived by any children of her own, but she will be survived by countless children in her chosen families who will forever miss their “favorite Auntie.”

The celebration of Sara’s life will be held at her school, Vaughn Elementary located at 1155 Vaughn St, Aurora, CO 80011. It will begin promptly at 2pm. Aloha or white attire is requested, as she would want her last party that is “all about her” filled with bright and beautiful colors.

Please click on the link below to see the Memorial Slideshow from the family to Celebrate Sara

https://www.tributeslides.com/tributes/show/ZN7S4TM5GT75K84F