Patricia Kudart

PATRICIA L. KUDART

Cedar Rapids

Patricia L. Kudart, 82, died Feb. 16, 2016, at her home in Cedar Rapids.

She was born March 13, 1933, in Dysart, Iowa, the daughter of Clifford and Maye Brown. A private memorial service will be at a later date.

Pat's faith in Jesus was important to her, sustaining her through all of life. On her desk was a brochure containing these words: "A teaching basic to the Christian faith is that each person was put on this earth to make a contribution to life." Pat carried out this teaching by practicing a career in the profession of nursing. This career started while Pat was still in high school, when she helped care for her father, who was stricken with MS in his early 30s. She attended the University of Iowa's School of Nursing, paying her own way with a series of jobs, and earned an RN degree in 1954.

She married Arthur R. "Bud" Kudart on Dec. 12, 1954. They settled in Cedar Rapids and had two children, Kay and Tom. After her children were of school age, Pat returned to the practice of her profession for the next 40-plus years, working for Public Health Nursing, Milestones and St. Luke's Hospital. She also taught nursing at Mount Mercy University, St. Luke's and Kirkwood.

Along the way, she earned her B.S. degree at SUI and later a geriatric nurse practitioner license at the University of Colorado in Denver. In 1981, along with her daughter, who was living in India, she worked for short time with a medical missionary in the Himalayan Mountains. Some years later, along with some church members, she worked in Guatemala, helping the poor.

Pat had a warm, outgoing personality. When in high school, this quality led her to win a state contest, which took her to Girls Nation in Washington, D.C. Her personal beauty also was recognized. While at SUI, she won several beauty contests. In 1953, she represented SUI in a Big Ten beauty contest in Evanston, Ill.

Pat and Bud were married for 61 happy years. They loved to travel. During their early years, they enjoyed giving creative "theme" parties for their many friends.

In May 2015, Pat was diagnosed with amyloidosis, a rare disease for which there was no cure. This disease took her from this earth.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her brother, Carroll; and her sister, Wanda Lambert.

She is survived by her husband, Bud; daughter, Kay Holler (husband Steve); son, Tom (mate Mary Jo Sweeney); and four grandchildren, John, Nanda, Beth and Chintan. Bud lives in Cedar Rapids, Kay and her family in Chicago and Tom in Hawthorne, Calif.

Please share your support and memories with Pat's family on her tribute wall at www.stewartbaxter.com under obituaries.