Patricia Ada Young

YOUNG, PATRICIA ADA Patricia Ada Young, age 51, died unexpectedly of heart failure on May 19, 2008. Born on November 3, 1956, Patti had a remarkable life journey that took her from her childhood home in Edmonton, Alberta, to Yellowknife near the Arctic Circle in Canada, then ultimately to Rancho Santa Fe and Lahaina, Maui. Patti Young was a force to be reckoned with, a huge and vital spirit whose generosity, kindness, enormous good humor and sense of fun spilled over onto her wide circle of friends and family, who are left now with the impossibility of envisioning the much diminished world that remains without her. She was married for many years to her loving and obliging husband, Kit, who enjoyed greatly the happy crowd of adoring fans that Patti drew to both of them. She met Kit in 1986 at a health spa and quickly became a valued partner in love and business as well. For many years she co-managed Kit's multi-million dollar sports collectibles business, and helped him establish an annual trade conference in Hawaii that they hosted for almost 20 years. Kit's family found themselves blessed to have such a thoroughly satisfactory new family member who racheted up the excitement level and good cheer at any family gathering. Kit's friends quickly became her friends, and ultimately were included in Kit and Patti's generous definition of family. Patti was known as the "hostess with the mostest," a sparkling entertainer who was known to practice a new recipe for a chocolate souffle for several days in a row before serving the perfected finished product to guests. She was a fabulous chef, sommelier, and social director, so that her parties were a source of delight for all, from the youngest toddlers to the oldest relatives, all of whom were welcome in their home. She and Kit hosted several weddings and honeymoons at their spectacular homes in Rancho Santa Fe and Lahaina, Maui. Children delighted in Patti and responded to the great pleasure which she found in being with them, doting upon them, spoiling them, yet treating them with the same respect with which she treated adults. She and Kit were known to take their nieces and nephews to Toys 'R Us and invite them to choose any toy in the store they wanted, with no limitations, to the occasional exasperation of their more abstemious parents, but to the great pleasure and gratitude of the children themselves. Kit and Patti were known to throw yearly Christmas parties for the children they loved, where a similar sense of excess and bounty prevailed, turning one and all into believers in Santa Claus. No one remained a stranger to Patti for long. Whether a bank president or a TV repairman, those who met her very readily came to feel like her valued friend. She was known to take in relatives after surgery and care for them personally for weeks, providing tender nursing care and offering ample distractions with her good humor. She will be greatly missed by those who loved her best. She is survived by her loving husband, Kit. And also by her mother, Celine Kleingeist, and her Uncle Kirby, her siblings-in-law, Candace, Tom, and Sandi Young, her nieces and nephews, Margaret, Abby, Peter, Joe and Daniel. She is also missed by the 13 children who knew her as "Nana Patti": Emily, Anna, Madeline, Mary Margaret, Katie, Anthony, Michael, and Sarah Jane Ivanjack, Kit and Ben Cowan, and Ronnie, Gehrig, and Ryan Rosen. A Visitation and Gathering for family and friends will be held on Saturday, May 24th, from 2 to 5 p.m at El Camino Memorial Park (Sorrento Valley location) at 5600 Carroll Canyon Road in San Diego.