Patricia Burkhart

A funeral mass for Pat Burkhart will be celebrated 11:00 am Saturday, August 25, 2018 at the Sheil Catholic Center, 2110 Sheridan Road, Evanston IL 60201. The family will be available an hour before the mass for those who wish to come early. In lieu of flowers in memory of her daughter, Carie Burkhart, contributions to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, 954 West Washington Blvd, Suite 305, Chicago IL 60607, www.lls.org or 312 651-7350 appreciated. 

Patricia Catherine Quan was born to Genevieve Leona O"Leary and Walter Quan and was raised in the West Englewood neighborhood on Chicago's south side. She was the youngest of 5 children, Anna, Genevieve, James and Margaret. Pat and her family were FBI, Full Blooded Irish. As such they were always surrounded by family. Katie O'Leary, their grandmother, lived upstairs and they all stuck together, including Nanga and the Wilkinson clan.

Unfortunately, at a very early age, Pat and her siblings lost both of their parents. Pat and Margaret were then raised by her sister, Anna and her husband, Rudy Host. All of her cousins lived like brothers and sisters. As a young woman, she married Mike Cavallo and had two beautiful daughters, Angela and Carie. They divorced and she raised her girls as a single mom in Bridgeport. Pat continued her journey north and she and the girls moved to Lincoln Park. Pat remained employed at the Great Lakes Jewelry shop on Oak Street in the Gold Coast of Chicago.

In Lincoln Park, with the help of her rescued dog, Gypsy, Pat met Ricky James Burkhart. They married in 1983 and Rick adopted the girls that same year. They purchased their first home in Evanston and the family grew with the birth of their son, Blake James. Five years later, she continued her move north and she and Rick bought a home in Wilmette.

1n 1990 Pat opened Bearly Used, a children's clothing and toy store, in Wilmette. Over the years her success grew and many of her customers and staff became and remain close friends. When she closed the shop some twenty years later, she took photos of the families who shopped there and proudly hung these photos in her store window.

After Rick and Pat sold their home in Wilmette, Pat moved into their condo in Evanston where Carie resided until her sudden death in 2012.

Pat loved her children, Angela, Carie and Blake as well as her dear granddaughters, Morgan and Brighid. Some of Pat's happiest times were when she was with her family and friends at Carie's memorial bench by the lake in Evanston.

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