Patti passed away on November 24, 2022 at home with her family in Eureka.

Born on January 20, 1959 to Marie Estelle Howell and Harry Robinson in Long Beach, she was the only girl stuck, in the middle with two older brothers and one younger brother. They quickly learned that she was a force to be reckoned with and she would not be bullied or pushed around by them. She held her own and soon had the respect she deserved as their sister and as a girl.

Patti called many places home throughout her life, and it all began in Long Beach. As a young child her mom would take her and the boys to the nightclubs to sing karaoke, opening with the song “We’re Not Kids Anymore.” They were the following act after the Midget Wrestlers. This did not sit well with her being the closing act. Patti was a leader, not a follower — even as a kid she knew she should be “front and center,” the “headliner,” the “star,” and it was there that her love for karaoke started.

She was young when her family moved to Guam. While living overseas her brother Gary would feed her “red hot chili peppers” and tell her it was candy, and laugh as the tears rolled down her cheeks and her mouth caught fire. After a couple years abroad the family moved back to the states, to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. From there they moved to Glendale, Oregon and finally the family settled in Fields Landing. She grew up there and attended South Bay Elementary School, Jacobs Jr. High and graduated from Eureka High School. Patti formed and built strong friendships that have lasted and remained through the years. Patti was a friend that would be there through good and bad times and one that many friends could and would count on. She knew no strangers and always defended those that could not defend themselves. That was her nature, that was Patti Pearl.

Patti was talented and had many qualities which made her who she was, from mowing lawns for the elderly in her small community as a kid, making a very reputable name for herself, and at age 14 she began working for Eureka Fisheries and became their #1 fish flayer in the plant. But Patti was adventurous and decided at the age of 17 to “run away with the carnival” something a lot of kids talk about but never find the courage to do. Well, Patti did and found herself on the road and making a good living setting up the tents and rides and was soon running a booth and persuading the folks to play. After a few years “living the Carni life” it was time for her to make her way back home.

It was there she met and married her first husband, Evertt Corwin, while tending bar at the Buoy Club, working alongside her mom and her aunt Pat. She enjoyed the bar and the old timers and it was more than a job to her, she considered them all her family and it was bittersweet when Patti and her husband decided to move to Vermont after the birth of their daughter, Jennifer. Vermont soon proved to be different kind of lifestyle than she was used to, as her new husband’s family were Mennonites and lived as they do, from horse-drawn buggies to growing their own food and making their own clothes, and it was there that she learned how to make molasses and always sent her family freshly canned jars.

After her marriage ended she packed up her daughter and her belongings and moved to Truckee to start a new life as a single parent. She worked as a pharmacy technician while in Truckee and then met and married her second husband, Tony Hackenberg ,and had two more daughters, Felicia Rose and Toni Marie. After 14 years she found herself once again divorced and raising three girls, and she moved back home to be with her mom and care for her. During that time is when she met and fell in love with her soulmate and love of her life, Chuck Mahony. She enjoyed being strapped on the back of his Harley Davidson and just riding. When her mom passed away Patti became the matriarch of the family and was known as the “Mayor” of Fields Landing. Patti loved Christmas and always made it special for her family and those in her community that were less fortunate. She would dress Chuck up as Santa Clause and her as an elf and go around town door to door giving gifts to both young and old, making sure that no one went without. Every year she put a star on the roof of her house and from Highway 101 it could be seen.

Halloween was another of her favorites. She had more costumes than most stores and in every size, because she never knew when someone might be in need. Chuck was a member of the Clampers and every year she loved to dress up for the “Widowers Ball” and won a few contests, one for best dressed widower, and her and Chuck won best couple.

She was also a member of the Eagles Club and was captain of the Womens Pool League for a few years and enjoyed Thursday night karaoke night and always sang “Brick House” a song fitting for someone of her nature. To many of us she was our brick house and mighty, mighty. There is so much more that can be said about Patti and for those of us who knew her will agree it is endless, because she gave you all of her heart and she did it with a full heart. True to herself and to those that were lucky and fortunate enough to know her. She will be greatly missed and forever be loved by those of us she called friends. May the Angels up high give you wings to fly and give us strength to carry on without you and the void will always be big until the day we meet again, all our love amen.

But For The Grace Of God, Go…. Heaven Knows How We’ve Been Blessed With The Gift Of YOUR LOVE.

She is survived by the love of her life and soul mate of 26 years Chuck Mahony, her children Jennifer, Felicia and Toni, brother Gary, sister-in-law Connie, cousin Debbie, cousin Cindy, nephews Jack and William, niece Marie, her friends and all that knew her.

Graveside services will be held at Ocean View Cemetery 3975 Broadway, Eureka on Friday, December 9, 2022 at 10:00 a.m. Celebration of life will be held at the Eagles Club 1317 California Street, on Sunday, December 11, 2022 at 1 p.m. Please bring a dish — it is a pot luck dinner — and your most memorable story or stories.

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The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Patti’s loved ones. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here. Email news@lostcoastoutpost.com.