Pat was a member of Skate Sarnia, then known as Sarnia Figure Skating Club, for many years, beginning as a child and then returning years later to join our Adult Skating program. She skated precision (now known as synchronized skating) with the Exeter Skating Club and with the Silver Blades team, which was made up of skaters from Sarnia and surrounding areas. 

 

Pat joined the Skate Sarnia's Board of Directors for the 2008/2009 season as Secretary, a role she fulfilled for 6 seasons, then was elected President for the 2014/15 and 2015/16 seasons, after which she remained on the Board as Past President for the next 6 seasons, until her passing. She was a valued and important member of the Board for 14 years in all.

 

Pat truly enjoyed teaching the children how to skate, from our youngest skaters in our KidSkate program, now known as PreCanSkate, through to the more advanced skaters enrolled in our StarSkate program, now known as Advanced CanSkate. She was also a valued assistant in our Power Skating program for many seasons, helping teach local budding hockey stars.

 

Pat was also involved in the wider skating community, having been certified as a skating Judge and therefore a valued volunteer for many competitions across Ontario, hosted by the former Western Ontario Section and more recently by Skate Ontario. She also gave freely of her time to many area skating clubs as an evaluator at club Test Days, where young skaters demonstrated the skills they had learned, hoping to advance to the next level of skating.

 

She was a woman of her word, always spoke the truth (even when you didn’t want to hear it) and was always thinking of the kids and putting them first.

 

Pat will be missed by her many friends throughout the skating community, both locally and across Ontario. Thank you Pat, for your many years as a volunteer and leader in skating.

 

For further details on Pat Kelley’s life and many contributions to the community, please visit: https://www.djrobb.on.ca/obituaries/patrice-kelley-1.

 

To make a memorial donation in honour of Pat, please contact skatesarniatreasurer@gmail.com.