Patricia Dean (Galbraith) Stockner, 11 Mar 1932 -27 Jan 2022

STOCKNER, GALBRAITH, DEAN, ALLYSON, HULME, RUSSELL, NAUGHTON, MEADE

Posted By: Sarah Witte (email)
Date: 2/9/2022 at 10:48:54

Patricia Dean (nee Galbraith). A fifty-eight-year Naperville resident and a seven-year resident of Williamsburg, Iowa, died peacefully

with her family at her side January 27, 2022 at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinic in Iowa City, Iowa. She was born March 11, 1932 in Parkersburg, West Virginia, the daughter of Eugene D. and Ethel Dean Galbraith. On January 28, 1951, she married James Robert (Bob) Stockner and together they raised 4 children. She attended Parkersburg High School and graduated in 1949. She later attended Aurora University and College of DuPage, graduating from the latter in 1972. She matriculated to Northern Illinois University and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in History in 1976 and a Master of Arts in Library Science in 1978. She studied and researched at the Naperville Settlement Museum, Naperville, Illinois. In 1978 she was appointed the first director of the Warrenville, Illinois, DuPage County System library. She held this position until 1994. Prior to her appointment, Warrenville had rudimentary library service from 1933 to 1977 and was in several locations over its first forty-five years of existence. Volunteers were utilized to keep a 1930s Works Progress Administration (WPA), two-room, community building open as a library. Under her directorship, a 26,000 square foot building was constructed and dedicated in 1987. Among other foci, expanded programming and services for pre-school and other children were of importance to her. She remains Director Emeritus within the DuPage County System library. She played piano with great skill; admired several classical music composers; loved theatrical performances; collected artisan's work; participated in physical fitness activities, including tennis, tap dancing, and swimming; and served on committees to raise funds for Masonic charities and college scholarships, such as the Scottish Rite Learning Center for Dyslexic Children. She was a powerful advocate for financial support for children with extensive intellectual and physical disabilities, to include her great-granddaughter Ellie. In 1992, she honored her Scottish family history by serving as President of the Clan McEachran, based in Port Glasgow, Ontario, Canada. She served as Worthy Matron of the Order of Eastern Star (OES) in 1968 and 2000 and later honored by the OES of Illinois for fifty years of service for charity, kindness, and service to community; was a member of the Illinois Historical Society; was active for several decades in Naperville's first square dancing club, the Naper Squares; and was a member of the Community Methodist Church, Naperville, Illinois and St. Paul's Methodist Church, Williamsburg, Iowa. She is survived by four children, Robert Christian (Sherri Allyson) Stockner, Charles Richard (Cynthia Ann) Stockner, Elizabeth Ann Stockner, Amy Noel Hulme; grandchildren Andrew Dean (Vicki Diane) Russell, Michele Christine (Alan James) Naughton, Meredith Nicole (Tyler Timothy) Meade, Maxwell Christian Stockner and Lucas Early Stockner; and great-grandchildren Kaytlyn Noel Russell, Cameron Michael

Russell, Colton James Russell, Carson Andrew Russell, Scarlette Rose Naughton, Ivy Michele Naughton, Estelle Christine Naughton, Zoey Ann Meade, and Jackson Tyler Meade. She was preceded in death by her spouse James Robert Stockner and parents Eugene D. Galbraith and Ethel Dean Galbraith. Memorials to: Warrenville Public Library District Children's Fund, Warrenville, Illinois; St. Paul's United Methodist Church Children's Fund, Williamsburg, Iowa; West Virginia University, J. Robert and Patricia Stockner Scholarship, Morgantown, West Virginia; Valley of Chicago Scottish Rite Learning Center of Children, LaGrange, Illinois; and Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois. Visitation will be from 4-7 p.m., Tuesday, February 1, 2022 and Funeral Services will be 10:00 a.m., Wednesday, February 2, February 2, 2022. Visitation and funeral services will both be at the Beidelman-Kunsch Funeral Homes & Crematory, 516 S. Washington Street, Naperville, Illinois. Burial

will be at the Naperville Cemetery immediately following the Funeral Service.

Published in The Hometown Current on February 2, 2022.