It is with profound sadness and broken hearts that we announce the passing of Patricia Gaines (Taylor).

Patty was born in Chicago on April 14, 1945, to Helen and Joseph Emmett Taylor. She was the youngest of the Taylor children by about 20 years. She was doted on by her older siblings, Donna, Beth and Joe, and loved to tell stories of tagging along on dates with her big sister Beth and her future husband. Patty and her parents moved to Coffeyville, Kansas where she grew up and graduated from Coffeyville High School.

Always looking for grander adventure, Patty left her job at Philips Petroleum to work as a flight attendant for United Airlines. She moved to New York City, made lifelong friends with other flight attendants and it was during this time her love for travel bloomed. She traveled the world and gathered stories of mischief and adventure from every corner of the globe.

It was while traveling on the elevator in her New York City apartment building that she met the love of her life, Spencer Gaines. With no reason to see him again, she made up an excuse and asked if she could borrow a hammer. From there, their love story took off, and Patty and Spencer got married on August 14, 1970.  Spencer also loved to travel and even had his pilot’s license and a little plane. Together, they traveled the country continuing to explore and find new places that they loved – including, their beloved Carmel, California. Patty helped raise her stepchildren, Wendy and Jonathan, and fell in love with Spencer’s extended family. Never one to be told “no”, Patty defiantly bought their first dog, Bitzie, after Spencer told her not to do so.

In 1972, Patty and Spencer welcomed their first daughter, Jennifer (Maynard). Jennifer was followed by their second daughter, Lori (Freund), in 1976. Wanting to give her girls every opportunity and every adventure, Patty indulged her daughters every chance she got. One day she spontaneously decided to take the girls to Paris, packed their bags, and called Spencer at work to let him know they would be home in a few days. She was constantly on the move with her daughters and encouraged them to push beyond their dreams and achieve even bigger than they imagined for themselves. She loved her daughters immensely and made sure that they were supported and cared for always.

When she and Spencer fell in love with Deer Valley, Utah on a ski trip, they decided to be the first people to build a house on the mountain. That house became the center of their lives, hosting countless friends and family at their home over the years. During the 2004 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, they went to the Opening Ceremony, the Closing Ceremony, and at least one event every day in between. It was on family trips when all their children and grandchildren gathered in Utah that Patty felt the most at home. Together with her family, she enjoyed skiing (or at least she tolerated it so she could spend time with everyone), doing puzzles, and playing games. It was in Utah where her ruthless card playing tactics earned her the name “evil woman.”

But Patty was anything but evil. She was the most generous and philanthropic person around. She loved to help her extended family in any way she could. She had many organizations that she supported with her time and generosity, including CPC Healthcare who recognized her dedication by honoring her. More recently, she shared her philanthropy with Rockit Academy, supporting many students with scholarships, and Blood Cancer United, helping to fund research into treatment efforts for blood cancers.

Perhaps her favorite role was that of “Nana” to Averi Gaines, Devin Gaines, Joshua Ryan, Brody Maynard, Alex Maynard, Emersyn Freund, Dashiell Freund, Hunter Freund, and Hartley Freund. Her grandchildren were the light of her life and together they escalated further her love of adventure. Nana loved to plan trips for her grandkids. Their favorite was celebrating Nana’s 80^th birthday in Sea Island, Georgia in 2025. While there, Nana, as always, packed their days with activities including kayaking, shooting, bowling, and more. Nana loved solo time with her grandkids as well, taking Emmy to a Lady Gaga show in Chicago and Alex to Minnesota to see the Twins play just last year. She doted on her grandkids and loved to spoil them – never saying no to anything they wanted and always looking to plan the next activity they would do together. A couple of times a year a text would come in asking for the kids’ shoes and clothing sizes and a few days later giant boxes of clothes would arrive for each grandkid. She loved watching her grandkids in their activities whether it was singing along as Emmy performed on stage, watching Hartley dance, and cheering on the boys at soccer and football games. She never missed a birthday, a birthday party, a dance recital, a concert, or other special occasion involving her grandkids.

Nana became Nana to so many more people as well. Her Rockit family (parents and kids alike) affectionately called her Nana as did many of her grandchildren’s friends. Everyone loved Nana.

As a friend, Patty was incomparable. Her best friends were her beloved nieces who, because her siblings were 20 years older than her, were around her age. She strove to spend time with them even though they lived all over the country and kept in touch with them often, including her daily Wordle games with her beloved niece, Lynn. With Roxann, she loved to travel and meet up in Utah. Aunt Patty was loved and adored by her family. Patty also gathered friends everywhere she went. She struck up a conversation with everyone she met and turned casual encounters into lifelong friendships. She loved finding connections with the people she met and over time she wove quite the web of lasting friendships. Her daughters always expressed in awe the marvel of Patty’s collection of friends who she always kept in touch with even when she moved to Florida. In Florida her network grew larger where there too she gathered many friends who loved and adored her. One, upon hearing of Patty’s passing, said that Patty taught her so much through their conversations and adventures together – including a Thelma and Louise style road trip where they got lost, ran out of gas, left a purse in a restaurant and drove several hours aways before realizing, and laughing, laughing, laughing.

Patty was so full of life and never let anything slow her down. She was vibrant, spunky, ambitious, and busy with projects right up until the end. She was kind. She was generous. She was caring. She was hard working. She was fun. She was a gift to her children and grandchildren. She was wise. And she was oh so proud of the family and life she built. She often looked around and said, “can you believe all that this little girl from Coffeyville, Kansas has achieved?”

I lieu of Flowers, the family asks that a donation be made in Patricia’s honor to the Blood Cancer United and Rockit Academy at https://givenow.bloodcancerunited.org/  and https://www.rockitacademy.org/donate/