Obituary of Patricia Anne Wetmore

Patricia Anne Wetmore, 68, passed away on Saturday, February 7, at home with her family by her side after a valiant fight with cancer. Pat was born on July 11, 1946, in Oak Park, Illinois, the only child of the late Rudy and June Pecanic. Her family moved to Hot Springs, Arkansas, when she was 13 years old. Her neighbor and school mate was Bill Clinton. She and "Billie" used to walk to school together. She was a 1964 graduate of Hot Springs High School and attended junior college for a while. She later became an LPN and worked at the University of Arkansas Hospital in Little Rock where she met her future husband, Dr. Stephen Wetmore, an otolaryngologist. She retired from nursing when she and her husband moved to Morgantown in 1988. She did a great deal of volunteer work including working with soup kitchens, Meals-on-Wheels, and as a volunteer at University Hospital. She also enjoyed working with young medical students as a simulated patient. Because of her friendship with President Clinton, she was invited to high school reunions in the White House in 1994 and 1999 and attended the dedication of the Clinton Library in Little Rock in 2004. At that latter event, she and the President were talking together for an hour after the event was supposed to end causing consternation with the Secret Service. Pat was a friendly, vivacious person who was interested in those around her. She would take her husband's secretarial staff for lunch on Secretary's Day and learn more about them in two hours than her husband would learn in a year. Even when she was in the hospital with complications from her cancer and in pain, she would always chitchat with the nurses and aids inquiring about them and their families. Pat loved to travel and visited many exotic countries including India, China, Viet Nam, Cambodia, Nepal, Korea, Russia, Japan, and Australia. India was her favorite country, which she visited 5 times including a trip in November 2014. She had planned a trip to Japan with her best friend Geraldine Toth and son Gary Toth in February 2015. She also loved animals owning 5 cats and feeding 3 feral cats, possums, raccoons and birds; she bought 200 lbs of birdseed weekly. Her house was filled with many different plants and each summer she filled her porches with many flowering plants and took care of a vegetable garden. Pat is survived by her devoted and loving husband Stephen Wetmore, her son Randy Millsap and daughter-in-law, Michelle, daughter Shannon Schneider and son-in-law Sam, step-daughter Cynthia Hammond and son-in-law Matthew, and step-daughter Sarah and son-in-law Michael. She is survived by 5 grandchildren, Dylan and Nathan Millsap, Zachary Hammond, and Sophia and Sebastian Schneider. Friends and family will be received at Hastings Funeral Home, 153 Spruce St, Morgantown, on Saturday, February 14th, from 1PM until the time of the Memorial Service at 3 PM with Pastor Craig L. Falkenstine officiating. In lieu of flowers, Pat's family has requested that memorial contributions be made to the charity of your choice. Send condolences online at www.hastingsfuneralhome.com.