Patrick “Pat” Garcia Ochoa
January 9, 1942 – May 14, 2023
Patrick “Pat” Garcia Ochoa, 81, of Sweet Home, died Sunday May 14, 2023. He was born January 9, 1942, in Pacoima, California. He was the first-born child to Patrick Wolfe and Emma (Garcia) Ochoa.
Pat grew up in the San Fernando Valley area of California in a very large family. As a youth, Pat was an avid runner and spent many an hour adventuring with his numerous cousins. After attending Pierce College, Pat worked as a grocery clerk where he met his wife, Konnie. They moved to Sylmar, California where they lived until moving to Oregon. Pat shifted careers and became a grade-checker in the construction industry. He enjoyed fishing, boating and camping. Pat took his family on many lengthy annual camping trips in California and Oregon and made many visits to Sweet Home to visit his wife’s aunt, Deborah Karr, resident of Sweet Home.
In the late 1970s, Pat moved his family to Sweet Home, where they opened a mobile catering business which served all the area mills. When the logging industry plummeted, Pat returned to construction for a while, then re-entered the grocery business as clerk for Roth’s Market in Silverton, from which he retired.
Pat loved living in Sweet Home. He would say that he no longer needed to camp because all he had to do was sit in his yard to enjoy the beauty-but he did spend many an hour on Foster Lake, boating, fishing and water skiing. In addition to his outdoor activities, Pat loved sports watching…live or televised.
He is best known for his playful, teasing, nature and his dry sense of humor.
He is survived by his daughter, Trista Ochoa and son-in-law Steve Blench of Sweet Home; daughter Kelli Dunleavy, also of Sweet Home; sister, Marilyn Smith of Auberry, California; sister Ellen Wolverton and brother Art Ochoa, both of Tollhouse, California. He was preceded in death by both his parents and wife, Konnie.
Sweet Home Funeral Chapel is handling the arrangements. www.sweethomefuneral.com