Patricia M. Olenen

She was born July 25, 1949. at Beth Israel Hospital in New York City, the daughter of the late Anthony Nowom and Agnes (Drumstas) Nowom.

She was baptized and confirmed at St. George’s Ukrainian Catholic Church in Manhattan, N.Y.

Patricia attended the Mary Louis Academy in Queens, N.Y., and graduated in 1967. She then attended New York University, Washington Square College of Arts and Science and received a Bachelor of Arts in biology in 1971. During her time working on her bachelors degree, she worked as a laboratory assistant at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and was recognized as a co-author to Dr. Robert Adelstein on the scientific research paper, Isolation and characterization of myosin from cloned rat glioma and mouse neuroblastoma cells in 1976. She graduated cum laude and a Phi Beta Kappa.

When Patricia had her first child, she dedicated herself to being a wonderful mother and a central figure to her family for many years. She had a passion for gardening as well, and would grow all her plants exclusively from seed. Every year, on Jan. 1, when a seed catalog would arrive in the mail, she took great joy in deciding what to plant for the upcoming year.

Survivors include her husband, Peter Olenen, whom she married on July 24, 1971, at St. Kevin’s Roman Catholic Church in Flushing, N.Y.; two sons: Paul Olenen and Michael Olenen; a daughter, Mary (Jonah) Brock; two grandchildren: Ailis and Ivan; and a sister, Anne Marie Nowom.

A funeral Mass will be held at Holy Trinity Church in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., at a later date. Interment will be at Mount St. Mary Cemetery in Queens, N.Y., at the convenience of the family.

Arrangements are by the McGraw-Kowal Funeral Home.