Patricia S. Pendergast

Patricia Sitterlee Pendergast, 82, died on Saturday, March 1, at Upstate-Community Hospital after a brief illness. She was surrounded by her loving family.

Pat was born on May 21, 1942, in Syracuse, NY. She was the daughter of Marion Mahar Sitterlee and Martin Broderick Sitterlee.  After her mother’s death in 1948, she was raised by her loving aunt and uncle, Marguerite S. Welch and Francis J. Welch.  She grew up in the Valley section of Syracuse and attended Onondaga Valley Academy, graduating in 1960. It was at OVA, when she was sixteen, that she met her future husband, John Stafford Pendergast, who passed away in 1999 after nearly 35 years of marriage. She would continue to live in the Valley on the street that she grew up on from 1966 to the present.

Pat was a communicant of St. James Church, now Our Lady of Hope.

Pat attended the State University of New York at Cortland and studied elementary education. She graduated in 1964.  She was a first grade teacher at Meachem 

Elementary School, and she always loved working with little kids. 

She also served as a parent representative on the committee for special education at Corcoran High School.

She is survived by her children Julie Pendergast Clayton (Bruce) of Sleepy Hollow, NY and Patrick Pendergast of Syracuse, as well as two grandchildren, Katherine Patricia Clayton (Connor Lehan) of Boston, MA and Sam Clayton of Chicago, IL.

Pat loved her family fiercely and nothing made her happier than sitting around the table in her dining room or at a favorite restaurant with the people that she loved. She was a very proud grandma and loved hearing updates of what her grandchildren were up to. She will be very greatly missed.

Calling Hours will be Thursday, March 6, 2025 from 4-7PM at Ballweg & Lunsford Funeral Home, Syracuse, NY.  Funeral service will be Friday, March 7, 2025, 10:30AM at Our Lady of Hope Church.  Burial will be held in the spring.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Emmaus Ministry, Our Lady of Hope Church, Syracuse NY, the Make A Wish Foundation of Central New York at www.cny.wish.org or the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central New York.