Patricia ‘Pat’ Eagan Cluthe
Devoted mother, wife, nurse and friend
October 10, 1942 – September 6, 2024
Pat Cluthe, 81, passed away peacefully on Friday, September 6, 2024, in her assisted living apartment at Pioneer Ridge Community in Lawrence, Kansas with her two daughters by her side.
Pat was born on October 10, 1942, in Savannah, Georgia, to Henry William and Miriam Gentel Eagan. The second oldest of six kids, Pat loved her five siblings and often shared stories of their adventures while growing up.
Pat attended Red Bank Catholic High School in Red Bank, NJ and in 1968, she graduated from the University of Rochester with a degree in nursing. During her stint at the University of Rochester, she spent a year studying in London, England as the first nursing exchange student at Guy’s Hospital. In 1969, at the height of the Vietnam war, Pat told her parents that she wanted to serve as a nurse in Vietnam. Upon hearing this news, her father asked her to take 2 weeks to think it over before enlisting. It was during these two weeks that she met her husband, Peter ‘Pete’ Alfred Cluthe, in a bar on the New Jersey coast. Pete was celebrating his birthday with his friends just like she was. They shared the same birthday! The rest, as they say, is history. Peter Alfred Cluthe and Patricia Anne Eagan were married on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, 1970, at the Molly Pitcher Hotel in Red Bank, NJ.
Pat and Pete were the proud parents to four children; Maura, Tracey, Peter and Matt. Moving from New Jersey to Maryland to Ohio to Michigan and then to Texas in 1984, Pat worked as an emergency room nurse, a hospice nurse and a critical care unit (CCU) nurse. In 2004, her husband Pete, who had been battling ALS, passed away. After his passing, Pat began traveling to Peru every year to Operacion San Andres with other doctors and nurses, to help provide health and dental care to people in the remote village of Collique, Peru. Upon her retirement in 2007, Pat was the head nurse of the CCU and ICU at Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston, TX. In January 2008, wanting to be closer to her children and grandchildren, she moved to Lawrence, KS, 45 minutes west of Kansas City.
Pat loved spending time with her family and friends (especially doting on her grandchildren!), was drawn to large bodies of water, loved to travel and experience new things and was a voracious reader. She loved a glass of red wine, good coffee and simply hanging out. Oftentimes, when her kids were little, she would take them to the library and come home with a huge stack of books that she’d read in a week! This love of reading lasted throughout her lifetime; she always had a new book that she was eager to read. Pat was also an amazing cook. Not only did she cook all sorts of dishes from different parts of the world, she also was able to convince her kids (or, Maura at least!) that carrots were sweets! (It wasn’t until 4th grade that Maura was told that carrots were not sweets but were actually vegetables!)
She always made time for others, was genuinely interested in what you had to say, and treated others with respect. Pat’s unwavering faith guided her throughout her life. As she approached death, she embraced her next chapter anticipating seeing her husband Pete once again. She will be missed dearly.
Pat is predeceased by her parents, Henry and Miriam Eagan, and siblings, Richard Eagan, Peter Eagan and Suzanne Eagan Wynne.
She is survived by her brother, Anthony Eagan, and his wife, Alexandra, of Nashville, TN; and her sister, Mary Carol Eagan of Atlantic Highlands, NJ; daughters, Maura Gale Cluthe, and her husband Jake Fowler, of Kansas City, MO, and Tracey Cluthe English, and her husband Chris English, of Lawrence, KS.; sons, Peter Henry Cluthe, and his wife Sara Paquette, of Lawrence, KS and Matthew Frederick Cluthe, and his wife Laurel Williamson Cluthe, of Houston, TX, and her six grandchildren, Abby English, Keely English, Connor English, Libby English, Peter Cluthe and May Cluthe.
A visitation will be held at 10:00am, followed by a rosary prayer at 10:30am, and a funeral mass at 11:00am at Corpus Christi Catholic Church on Monday, September 23, 2024.
Memorial contributions may be made to Operacion San Andres and sent to Warren McElwain 120 W. 13th St. Lawrence, KS 66044.
