Patricia A. Busseau passed away in our home in Peyton, Colorado on February 14, 2022 at the age of 78. She is the daughter of Albert Ashton James Jr. and Mary Elizabeth James (Loughery), born in Woodbury, New Jersey on August 19, 1943. She was preceded in death by her father, her mother, and her brother Robert Ashton James. She is survived by her daughters Nicole, Michele (Marcos), Denise (Ryan), Mary (Virnisha), and her son Robert (Julie). She is also survived by 9 grandchildren, and 6 great-grandchildren. She passed away with her family and pets Luna, Buddy, Fiona, and Olive by her side.

Patricia is affectionately known as Mom, Grandma, Memaw, Nan, Patsy, Pat, Grandma Pat, and Golden Grahams by her family and friends. She is a graduate of Holy Cross High School in 1961 and later moved to San Diego, California in 1966 where she met and married Nicholas Busseau. She was co-owner of a small business, worked at Sears and Campbell Soup Company, as well as many hotel auditor and management positions throughout her career. It was not uncommon for her to tirelessly work three jobs simultaneously. She eventually retired from the County of San Diego, property tax accessor’s office in 2010. She spent many years volunteering at School of the Madeleine and was a regular donor and adopter for various animal rescue organizations around San Diego.

Patricia regularly opened her home to relatives and friends that needed a place to stay due to hardship. She was a lover of animals, from guinea pigs to horses. She enjoyed puzzles, crosswords, stamp and coin collecting, road trips back east, spending hours at the local casinos with friends, and was particularly passionate about genealogy and tv/film. Upon entering her home there was an unwritten rule that there would be a discussion on obscure foreign language films and British comedies, but all genres were fair game. Family vacations often involved visiting cemeteries and old churches as part of her genealogy research. She loved history, reading (particularly mystery and suspense), and accounting. Some of her favorite authors were Anne Rice, Agatha Christie, John Grisham, Dick Francis, Janet Evanovich, and Robert Frost. She often passed the time playing solitaire and online casino games. She would gloriously defeat every unwitting soul that dared challenge her to a game of Dr. Mario. Her animated facial expressions, sarcasm, hearty laugh, and dry sense of humor made every visit with her pure entertainment. It was not uncommon for a phone call to end with, “I’m done talking now; I’m going to hang up” and with that the call was over. She was a character that will truly be missed.

In lieu of flowers the family requests donations in Patricia’s name be made to Wee Companions Small Animal Rescue located at 3368 Governor Drive, Suite F, San Diego, CA 92122, https://weecompanions.org/donate, 619-934-6007.

To plant a tree in memory of Patricia Busseau, please visit https://shop.alivingtribute.org/products/tree-planting-with-commemorative-card.

The family wishes to thank the wonderful doctors and nurses of Kaiser Permanente of San Diego for their efforts in helping her battle cancer and the nurses and aides at Colorado Palliative and Hospice Care of Colorado Springs that helped her get to the end comfortably.

Graveside services are scheduled for 11:45 a.m. on April 30, 2022 at North Cedar Hill Cemetery, at the corner of Frankford & Cheltenham Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19124, 215-535-0134.

“I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” — Robert Frost