Mary Patricia Stroud, Active In Church And Community

Mary Patricia “Pat” Stroud, 79, of Sugar Street, died July 20 in Danbury Hospital. Mrs Stroud was the wife of Kenneth E. Stroud, Deacon Emeritus of St Rose of Lima Parish.

Mrs Stroud was born in Risca, Wales, on December 22, 1924, a daughter of the late Lena Victoria Mason. Deacon and Mrs Stroud were married April 12, 1947 in St Joseph Church, Weymouth, Dorset, England.

A resident of the United States since 1956, Mrs Stroud moved to Newtown in 1978 after having lived in New Hampshire, Vermont, North Carolina and Waldwick, N.J.

Pat was an active daily communicant of St Rose of Lima Church and was a member of the church choir, a special minister of the Eucharist, and was a teacher for the religious education program. She was a longtime member of Church Women United/Newtown-Bethel, most recently serving as its chairman of ecumenical action and as the Key Woman for St Rose of Lima.

Mrs Stroud was also a member of Connecticut Choral Society, a member and past president of Newtown Woman’s Club, served on the Board of Newtown Housing for the Elderly (Nunnawauk Meadows), was a former president of the Board, and a driver for Newtown Meals on Wheels, was a member of the Great Books Club, volunteered for the Newtown Chapter of Regional Hospice, and was a former member and president of the Catholic Daughters of America/North Carolina chapter.

In addition to her husband of 57 years, Mrs Stroud is survived by her five children, Susan Parker of Fallston, Md., Dominic Stroud of Prosper, Texas, Adrian Stroud of Portland, Clare Joaquin of Waldwick, N.J., and Simon Kenneth Stroud of Bethel; 11 grandchildren, one great-grandchild; and a cousin, Sister Marie Pauline (Cousin Joan) of Mottingham, England.

Friends may call at Honan Funeral Home, 58 Main Street in Newtown, on Friday, July 23, from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 pm.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10 am, Saturday, July 24, in St Rose of Lima Church, Newtown. Interment will follow in St Rose Cemetery.

Contributions in her memory may be made to St Rose of Lima Memorial Fund, 46 Church Hill Road, Newtown CT 06470.

The Newtown Bee        July 23, 2004