MAHOPAC, N.Y.—Patricia “Patty” Rathschmidt, a Mahopac philanthropist who co-founded the iconic local charity United for the Troops with her husband, Jim, has died. She was 69.
Rathschmidt had been battling ovarian cancer for several years and, after a brief remission, passed away on Saturday, July 12, surrounded by her family.
While Rathschmidt was known as a devoted wife and mother to a “Brady Bunch”-like clan – all while serving as a nurse and later a nursing manager in various nursing homes – her true life’s mission was working alongside her husband managing United for the Troops (UFT).
The idea for UFT came in 2007 when the Rathschmidts' son Luke was deployed overseas. They sent him a package of needed items such as socks and toiletries and, of course, some snacks. But Luke reported that many of his fellow soldiers had no family at home to send them care packages, and he felt guilty about receiving them.
United for the Troops became an organization within weeks, collecting anything and everything from any source possible to send to the troops. In the last 18 years, UFT has shipped more than 30,000 care packages worldwide, all accomplished by a staff of volunteers.
Jim Rathschmidt said Patty was “more than instrumental” in making sure the charity was a success and fulfilled its mission.
“I was the fundraiser and the spokesperson, but she did everything else,” he said. “I did 10 percent, and she did 90 percent. Lots of logistics and behind-the-scenes stuff that people don’t know about. That was Patty.”
The Rathschmidts have been married for 34 years.
“Actually, we met 38 years ago,” Jim Rathschmidt recalled. “We were friends, and we went to the movies together one night. It just went from there.”
When they got married, it meant blending two families. Patty already had four children; Jim had three. Jim said that the comparisons to one of TV’s classic shows were inevitable.
“‘The Brady Bunch’ solved all our problems every Tuesday night in just 23 minutes,” he laughed.
Then Jim and Patty had a child together.
“We had Jimmy 27 years ago and suddenly it was ‘Yours, Mine and Ours,’” Jim said, referring to the old Lucille Ball movie. “But for us, it was really always just all ours together.”
Jim Rathschmidt said his wife was best known for her kindness. She had an impact that went well beyond the Mahopac borders. The Yorktown Town Board held a moment of silence for Patty at its meeting last week and Supervisor Ed Lachterman acknowledged her service and commitment to the local community.
Jim Rathschmidt noted that Patty's funeral services at St. John the Evangelist Church were overflowing and that the funeral procession had a police escort made up of 20 motorcycles and 10 cruisers.
“That is how much of an impression she made on everyone,” he said. “People really knew who she was.”
Jim said despite the loss of Patty, the pillar behind United for the Troops, the charity will keep going.
“She would not want it any other way,” he said, noting that the hospital at West Point just completed a fundraiser and will be donating a bunch of items on UFT's wish list.
Close friend and military mom Barbara Reitz Morris said Patty Rathschmidt helped her in her darkest hours after her husband, Judge James Reitz, died suddenly several years ago after suffering a heart attack in the courtroom.
“I met Patty nine years ago while my daughter was deployed with the Navy,” Reitz Morris said. “She sent about 100 care packages to her ship, an aircraft carrier. My daughter asked if I knew where they came from. I did not.”
At that time, Reitz Morris had never even heard of United for the Troops.
“I went on a mission to find out who loved my daughter as much as I did,” she said. “I tracked them down.”
One night, Reitz Morris was driving past the UFT headquarters in Carmel and noticed a light on in the window. She said something told her to stop and knock on the door. That is how she met Patty Rathschmidt and her friends Susan Hoffman and Suanne Landers.
The quartet bonded immediately and before long, an informal club of sorts was formed.
“Every Tuesday night we met—the United for the Troops Ladies Happy Hour,” Reitz Morris said. “We met during COVID, and we’d share our pain and our joy. It was a tradition. I felt I had a home to go to [now that her husband had passed]. We signed a thing that said what happens here stays here. I went there, they said, 'Come on in,' and I never left."
“Patty was there for me,” she continued. “God always puts people in your path when we need them, and I was so lost without [my husband].”
Reitz Morris said her friend’s passing has left a huge hole in her heart.
“She found me when I was most lost and embraced me into her heart,” she said.
Reitz Morris said Patty was a battler and never gave up in her struggle with cancer.
“She was such a fighter,” Reitz Morris said. “She came out of Sloan Kettering one more time [earlier this month] just to celebrate her birthday. She sucked it up because she knew her family needed her.”
Reitz Morris said now hundreds and hundreds of Naval officers and sailors, and their moms, know of Patty’s big heart and altruism. She said her daughter has been stationed on four different aircraft carriers and each one has a Facebook page.
“I track down where all the moms are from and let them know about her, and now Patty’s heart has reached so many towns across the country,” she said. “I wanted them to know that. Her heart continues. And I was so blessed to call her my best friend.”
Town Deputy Supervisor Frank Lombardi, who is a frequent volunteer with UFT, called the loss of Patty Rathschmidt “overwhelming.”
“What she gave to the community and those overseas in service can never be paid back,” he said. “We will miss her warmth, smile and laughter. She was truly a treasure in the community.”
In addition to her husband, Patty, who was born in the Bronx and grew up in Yonkers, is survived by seven children, Denise Iarussi (Dan), Kathy Moberg (Robert), Michael Kelly (Jen), Tracy Barrows (Michael), Tracy Hascup, James Rathschmidt, and Teresa Reuter (Brian), as well as 12 grandchildren. Patty was predeceased by her son, Luke, and her parents, Bill and Bridie VanSlyck.
A funeral Mass in Patty’s memory was held on July 17 at St. John the Evangelist Church in Mahopac.
