Patricia Stinson

On January 18th, 2022, after a valiant battle with COVID, Patricia Susan Maria Coto Stinson passed away at the age of 69. She was surrounded by her loving family, who, clad in PPE, held her hands and wept. She is preceded in death by her younger sister Katherine Margarete Coto, her mother Margarete Straughn, and her father Sergeant Adam Coto. She is survived by her husband Keith Stinson; her three daughters Sarah Maria Desiree Hampton, Juliet Patricia Susanna Stinson-Moore, and Diana Kathleen Ashley Nelson; her five grandchildren Serenity Hampton, Phoenix Hampton, Terra Hampton, Olivia Nelson, and Myles Nelson; and her siblings Alice Mishler, Arthur LaRose, Adam Coto, Daniel Coto, and John Byron Coto. They all mourn her tragically early death, and they celebrate her storied life, her wonderful personality, and her impressive achievements.

On February 26th, 1952, Patricia was born in Würzburg, Germany, the firstborn child of Margarete Neckermann and Sergeant Adam Coto. She was delivered by her Nazi-defying grandmother in their family home, and raised in the Catholic faith. While she was still young her family emigrated to the United States, arriving via Ellis Island, New York. As a self-described “army brat” whose Cuban father served in the U.S. military, her family relocated regularly throughout her childhood, spending time in New York, Virginia, California, Pennsylvania, Maryland, North Carolina, Honduras, and Florida. At 18 she was baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. She was a devout convert, who was passionate about her faith, proud of her testimony, and dedicated to her church callings. She spent countless hours volunteering at the Temple, doing work for her ancestors and others. She was always happy to help the missionaries by participating in discussions and offering them moral support, and was known for always having a place at the dinner table for the Elders and Sisters, who were a frequent and well-fed presence in the Stinson home.

On August 24th, 1974, while living in Tampa, Florida, she and Keith Stinson met. He first saw her when she was volunteering to deliver an impromptu fireside devotional lesson, and as she spoke he remarked that he hoped to marry someone like her. They were engaged one month later. On October 25th, 1975, one year after their near-mutual proposal at Clearwater Beach, they were married in the Washington, D.C. Temple. Together they moved to Indiana, then Utah, then Alabama. There Patricia had their three beautiful daughters. She and Keith moved back to Utah later in life, and bought a home with their daughter Sarah and her family.

This gave Patricia the opportunity to be completely immersed in the daily lives of her grandchildren, who always knew they could turn to her when in need of comfort or scared. She is remembered as an exceptionally caring and attentive mother and grandmother.

Patricia was a lifelong learner with a voracious appetite for education, continually taking classes, and graduating with a bachelor's in genealogy from BYU at 59. She successfully pursued family history professionally as a dedicated private business owner. She was a gifted seamstress, and used her talents to sew clothing, quilts, purses, pillow cases, and more for her family and friends. As a versatile artist, she loved painting, singing, composing music, reading, and writing. She authored children’s books and short stories, and was an accomplished poet. She leaves behind a large body of published and unpublished work.

Her unique personality and inscrutable charm are impossible to capture in just a paragraph, but there are memories of her that stand out as representative—her ongoing optimism in the face of adversity, her lifelong quest to continually reinvent and reimagine herself, her ability to effortlessly strike up a conversation with anyone around her, her endless interest in the lives of her loved ones, her meticulous attention to birthdays and holidays and graduations, her unfailing ability to send a card to mark those events or just to say she was thinking of you. She would even send cards and gifts to her daughters’ delighted roommates and friends.

Patricia was always charitable, always giving, always loving, always thinking of others. The unmatched adoration her children and grandchildren have for her is a testament to her success as a mother, a grandmother, and a human being.

A viewing for socially-distanced and masked family and friends will be held from 12:30-1:30 p.m. on Sunday, January 23rd, 2022 at Sundberg-Olpin Mortuary. Funeral services for immediate family will be held at 2 p.m. in the chapel at the mortuary.

Expressions of condolence, messages of love and support, and fond memories and photos of Patricia may be shared on this page.

For those unable to attend in person, you may view the Services by clicking HERE .

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