Patsy Arlene Falke-Rowland
Dec 9, 1955 - Nov 5, 2020

Patsy Arlene Falke-Rowland loved nature. Over her 64 years, she backpacked the High Sierras, Grand Canyon, Cascades and remote ocean beaches, and regularly hiked the Anacortes Forest Lands that she urged us all to protect.

Both big-hearted caregiver and mischief-maker, she was always up for adventure, whether it was clambering over granite mounds or striking up conversations with Greek strangers on a remote island in the Aegean Sea.

Patsy passed away November 5 at age 64 after a brave struggle with a rare form of abdominal cancer. Always on-point, clear-eyed, wise and practical, she let her beloved family and wide circle of friends know it was time for her to go.

A rambunctious cowgirl at heart -- she took no guff -- Patsy was born Dec. 9, 1955 in Grand Junction, Colorado, to William and Dorothy Falke. The family moved to Glenwood Springs, Colorado, then Santa Clara, California. She graduated from Westmont High School in Campbell, California, in 1974.

She married David Hammerstrom in 1979 in Los Gatos, CA, and in 1981 they moved to the Seattle area, where they started a family and Patsy pursued her associate degree of nursing at Highline Community College.

In 1990, she moved to Anacortes, Washington, where she worked 25 years as a pediatric nurse at Fidalgo Medical Associates alongside good friend Dr. Jeanne Olmsted. Patsy's FMA colleagues fondly remember her as insightful, energetic, and compassionate, a team player who tightened the bonds between them all with her grace, humor, and stories.

Patsy -- tall, lithe, and lovely -- was a born storyteller, with jokes at the ready. Her laughter was deep and her blue-green eyes merry. She loved bringing people together. She started a long-running women's group, matched up couples with the skill of a village yenta, and, for 20 years, participated in a lively local book group. She loved costume parties and would arrive in wildly creative disguises, leaving friends wondering who this stranger at their doorstep could be.

She was a loving mother to her children Jessica Hammerstrom and Erik Hammerstrom and became a doting grandma to their two young children, Rye, age 1 ½, and Maeve, age 2, She was also a devoted daughter to mother Dorothy Falke, making sure she was well taken care of when she moved into senior care. Patsy married again in 2008 to Ralph Rowland, and even though they later separated, he stood by her until the end.

Patsy, an advocate of the Washington Death With Dignity Act, was a heavy reader, independent thinker, and spiritual seeker. She admired the teachings of Buddhist Pema Chodron. Patsy's favorite Chodron quote: "We think that the point is to pass the test or overcome the problem, but the truth is that things don't really get solved. They come together and they fall apart. Then they come together again and fall apart again. It's just like that. The healing comes from letting there be room for all of this to happen: room for grief, for relief, for misery, for joy."

Patsy's courage in facing her difficult illness serves as a model and inspiration for all of us who were so lucky to have her in our lives.

Patsy is survived by children Jessica Hammerstrom and Erik Hammerstrom (who were at her side when she died), their spouses Raymond Smith and Jane Hammerstrom, her grandchildren Maeve Hammerstrom and Rye Smith, her mother Dorothy Falke, sister Pamela Falke-Brown, brother-in-law Malcolm Brown, nephews Chris Krueger, Kevin Krueger, and Frank Krueger, husband /friend Ralph Rowland, and all the people she helped bring together in the Anacortes community she nourished and cherished.

She was preceded in death by brother Miley William Falke (1977) and father William Donald Falke (2001).

Memorial services are delayed until Covid-19 protocols and sunny weather allow.

Patsy asked that, in lieu of flowers, donations be sent to the Anacortes environmental group Evergreen Islands in Anacortes in her name.

Send to: Patsy Falke- Rowland Memorial Fund, Evergreen Islands, P.O. Box 223, Anacortes, WA 98221.

Published by Anacortes American from Nov. 23 to Nov. 25, 2020.

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