Patricia Schleicher

MADISON - "Dear sweet Patty" was how family members came to think of her, especially in her declining days when her native kindness and selflessness was, despite failing health, on even greater display.

Patty Schleicher passed Sunday, Oct. 5, 2014.

Born Patricia Murrish on Jan. 28, 1923 she grew up on a humble farm nestled halfway between Mineral Point, where her Cornish relatives had settled a century earlier, and Dodgeville, where she went to public school. The last born of four sisters, and the last to pass, Patty left home for Madison in the early 40s, right out of high school, where she studied briefly at the University of Wisconsin and got a secretarial degree at Madison Business College.

From there she took several secretarial jobs in Madison, and ended up at the UW-Madison Department of Wildlife Ecology where she worked for the next 30 years until her retirement. One of her fondest experiences there was being Aldo Leopold's personal secretary during her first year at the UW, which turned out to be his last year there as a professor. Patty said that Leopold was a wonderful man to work for and to know, and that she had the honor of visiting his legendary "shack and farm" cabin in his beloved Sand County for a family picnic. His shack is now a national historic landmark. On her wall she kept a framed, autographed illustration from a magazine article that Leopold had written during the year she worked with him.

Always a nonjudgmental and thoughtful soul, Patty never had an enemy, and instead had a loyal long-term friend, Arlene Knudsen, her childhood buddy from Dodgeville. As was often the case then for farm kids, given the lack of transportation options, Patty and Arlene boarded together in a home in Dodgeville all week when school was in session. Later they moved to Madison, separately, and remained friends forever.

With her passing, for our family, an era ends: An era of social graces that are not to be found in the world these days. One of her sayings, taken from her mother, was when you go as a guest to someone's house "don't arrive with your arms dangling," meaning bring a present for your hosts. And she always sent a thank you postcard after being invited somewhere, however humble the occasion.

Patty was preceded in death by her husband, Donald F. Schleicher, Sr., and her sisters Elizabeth Emery, Margaret Kinney, and Mary Jane Brewer, and parents Jane and Albert Murrish. She is survived by many loving nieces and nephews, and her stepchildren Don Jr., Phillip, and Donna Schleicher. Memorials may be made to the Monroe Street branch of the Madison Public Library where Patty was an active patron and volunteer for many years. The family wishes to thank Dr. John Ewalt and the staff at Verona's Four Winds Manor and Lodge for the excellent care they gave Patty these past three years.

Funeral services will be private in honor of Patty's request. Please share your memories at www.CressFuneralService.com
Cress Funeral and Cremation Service
3610 Speedway Road, Madison
(608) 238-3434