Patricia Ann Esmond began her journey in 1949 when she was born in Oklahoma City. In 1954 she moved with her family to Ponca City where her parents opened the Hartford Laundromat in the new Hartford Shopping Center. She graduated from Ponca City High School in 1967 and promptly went to work in the offices at Conoco. Except for an interruption of a couple of years, Pat continued to work for Conoco (and then ConocoPhillips) mainly as an accountant in the offices and then in the refinery until she retired in 2012. Along the way she also earned her B.S. in Accounting from Oklahoma State University.

Pat found great joy in country music, kicking up her heels and dancing at every opportunity, and also teaching Western Swing Dance. She sought out good bands, like when she trekked to Tulsa to take in, and dance to, the next generation of Bob Wills’ Texas Playboys at a special performance there.

She enjoyed traveling and exploring interesting historical and natural places like Grand Teton National Park, the Grand Canyon, and Washington, D.C.’s many monuments and sites. Her trip to the Albuquerque Balloon Festival was everything she wanted it to be. Perhaps most important to her, though, Pat frequently traveled to visit her family— especially when they were in the mountains of Wyoming.

She also found a special connection with the full moon and watched for it each month with anticipation. When she had a little sports car and the weather was right, she would drive to Lake Ponca to watch the full moon rising and then report on it to friends and family the next day.

In the early morning hours of August 31, 2023, as the full moon, a Super Moon, traveled across the night sky, Patricia Esmond’s journey in this world came to an end following a series of illnesses and then a rapid decline.

Pat was preceded in death by her parents, Stanley and Nan Esmond, and by her stepfather, Tom Prater. She is survived by her sister Connie Cassity (Michael Cassity) in Broken Arrow and her nieces Rebecca Cassity (Russ Anderson) in Seattle and Jessica Cassity in Tulsa.

Instead of flowers or plants, the family requests contributions in her memory to Ponca City Mealson- Wheels, Inc., c/o Connie Petersen, 8280 E. South Avenue, Ponca City, Oklahoma 74604.

Pat’s ashes will be interred at Rest Haven Cemetery. In lieu of a formal memorial, family, friends, and acquaintances are invited to pause in their daily lives for a moment of special contemplation and appreciation of the fun and loving Patricia of their memories. Light a candle or dance a dance for Pat.

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