Patricia "Patty" L. Tateman

Patricia Louise “Patty” (Kuntz) Tateman, a lifelong resident of Dayton, passed away peacefully, surrounded by her loving family on July 9, 2026 in Troy, Ohio. She was 87 years old.

Born and raised in Dayton, she was the daughter of the late Henry Nicholas and Mary Gordon (Everett) Kuntz. Patty attended local grade schools and graduated from Julienne High School, Class of 1957. Following high school, Patty aspired to be an artist and pursued an education in the arts at Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts. She later transferred to an affiliate program at the Dayton Art Institute through the University of Dayton. Shortly after, Patty married Ronald Dale Tateman on June 9, 1959, in Richmond, Indiana. Patty and Ron met while they were both teens and just started building their futures in Dayton. Patty was a woman of great faith. Religion was important to her; she had a special devotion to Our Lord and Our Lady, finding solace and strength in prayer. Though Patty was a devoted Catholic and Ron was proudly agnostic, their mutual respect and love allowed their relationship to thrive, proving their shared values and deep devotion to one another mattered far more than their differences.

Patty was a woman with many talents and gifts. She lived a life full of adventure and accomplishment. If you asked Patty who she was, she would say she was an artist, mother, wife, and devoted friend, but she was so much more than that. She made ordinary life feel colorful, meaningful, and alive. Patty was a lifelong artist and specialized in watercolors and acrylic painting. She was especially known for black and white pieces and enjoyed painting penguins, zebras, nature scenes, flowers and anything that inspired her to pick up her paint brush. Her home was beautifully and meticulously decorated with her artwork, each piece thoughtfully framed and proudly displayed for all to see. In addition to painting, Patty was a talented musician and guitarist. She played much of her life, even into her later years. Patty kept her guitar under her bed and would take it out to play regularly to keep up her skill. Though her calluses were gone, she never lost her ability to play. When Patty was younger, she was active at her parish, St. Christopher’s Catholic Church in Dayton. There, she led the music ministry alongside a group of fellow guitarists. She taught people in the church group to play, and would coordinate music for the liturgy each week.

Patty's love for color and creativity extended beyond her artwork into her personal style. Though red and pink were her favorite colors, she embraced vibrant attire in all its hues and loved accessorizing with bold jewelry and statement pieces. She was never without her signature lipstick, Revlon’s #51 Fiery Magenta (Moon Drops line) until its discontinuance in the late 1990s/early 2000s.

Patty was also a pilot. She learned to fly with the encouragement of her husband, Ron. He wanted to get a pilot’s license and wanted Patty to join him in the fun. When it was time for her flying test, she was too nervous to fly without Ron, so he tricked her into flying solo by tucking and rolling out of her aircraft at the last minute, because he knew she was ready and simply

needed a little push. She successfully demonstrated everything she had learned and earned her pilots license that day in June, 1978. After licensure, Patty regularly flew a Cessna 150 and a Cessna 172.

Patty was a devoted friend; she made sure she always loved and cared for the people in her life. Her best friend of 70 years was Roseann (Longo) Lemp, whom she met at age 13. Their friendship was one of the greatest joys of Patty’s life. Together they vacationed annually in Gatlinburg, Tennessee during the fall months, and Indian Lake, Ohio in the summer months. Roseann would often come and stay at Patty’s house weekly; they would attend church together and enjoy countless day trips and weekends side by side. Their friendship lasted until Roseann’s passing in September of 2020. Perhaps the most remarkable part of their friendship was that they never once had a fight. They respected one another deeply and understood that differences of opinion never outweighed their love and loyalty for each other. Patty’s deep loyalty, compassion, and unwavering dedication to the people she loved were qualities she passed onto her son, Patrick, who inherited her gift for friendship, kindness, and caring for others with sincerity and devotion.

Patty had many hobbies that she enjoyed in her spare time. Her favorite thing to do was to play cards and board games. She faithfully played Bridge and Pinochle for more than 50 years with close-knit group of four of her friends. She also played Yahtzee and Solitaire every night with her mother, and Monopoly with her grandchildren. She passed on her love for games to her granddaughters, Ashley and Carlina. She was also an avid bird watcher, with her husband, Ron. It was their favorite pastime for early mornings and slow afternoons through the seasons of their life together. They always had multiple bird feeders in their yard and made sure they had the right food for each species. Their yard was large enough to space out the feeders so they could see many different birds visit their home on Claude Street. It would be fair to say Patty and Ron were more than bird watchers-together they were amateur ornithologists who carefully studied the birds they loved over the years. Patty also enjoyed going shooting with Ron, who was an avid firearms collector and enthusiast.

Patty’s favorite holiday was Christmas. She loved decorating her home for the season and would often leave a decorated tree up well after Christmas had passed to keep the spirit alive. Patty began a family tradition of having her children, and later her grandchildren, decorate the Christmas Tree together. Once everyone had gone to sleep, she would quietly redecorate the tree herself. The family eventually discovered this tradition one evening when they caught her in the act. Despite the Christmas tree re-decorating scandal (that her family would never let her live down), she lived out the Christmas season’s best traits: love, charitability, joyfulness, hopefulness, and kindness. Her love for Christmas, family traditions, and creating warmth and joy for those around her lives on through her daughter, Tammy, who inherited her mother’s generous spirit, love of decorating, and ability to make the holiday season feel magical or her family.

Patty loved collecting meaningful treasures throughout her life, including miniature bone china animals, tea sets, coffee mugs, and souvenir spoons. She lovingly maintained what she called her “Book of Death”, a scrapbook containing obituaries, prayer cards, and memorials of people she cared for. She also had a uniquely sentimental and humorous collection of preserved fish that had once been her pets. After they passed, she carefully dried and wrapped them with the idea that her children and grandchildren might someday use them for school science projects, much like students collect and preserve leaves or insects. Although the fish were never needed for any projects, Patty kept them as part of her many cherished collections. Patty’s collections reflected her curiosity, creativity, humor, sentimentality, wonderfully quirky spirit, and appreciation for life’s unique moments. Patty gave several of her grandchildren their first coffee mugs! Patty’s curiosity, sentimentality, and love for collecting meaningful treasures were qualities lovingly passed onto her daughter Joy, who inherited her mother’s appreciation for keepsakes, creativity, and the stories and memories that ordinary objects can hold.

Patty's favorite place to be was Indian Lake in Russell’s Point. Her dad, Henry, started taking her to Indian Lake when she was seven years old. Every opportunity she had, she would take a trip up to the lake, even if it was just to drive around the lake. Patty had been visiting Indian Lake for 80 years. As Patty raised her family, she continued the Indian Lake tradition with her children. She passed her love for the lake on to her daughter, Tammy, who purchased a home on the shoreline. Patty always loved sitting on Tammy and Jim's porch next to the water, going out on the pontoon boat, and watching the sun set.

As a wife, mother, and homemaker, Patty loved her family, children, and grandchildren more than anything. She and Ron raised their family with generosity, strong morals, values, and love. She was active in her children’s lives and took an interest in their hobbies. When her children were young, she and Ron volunteered their time at the Miami Quarter Midget Racing in Dayton. Ron coached the children while Patty worked the concession stand and was in charge of the trophies. Patty loved the quarter midget racing and looked forward to the excitement that it brought to her family. Her home life was full of warmth, routines, games, storytelling, and memorable quirks that made everyone she loved feel connected and cares for.

Patty was a vibrant, generous, compassionate, strong-willed, selfless, loving, and devoted person. She was a person whose quirks, passions, routines, traditions, talents, and relationships made her unforgettable to the people around her. Patty’s natural talent, subtle, quick wit, charm, and ability to connect effortlessly with people were qualities lovingly inherited by her son, Ronnie, whose personality reflected the same humor, intelligence, and engaging presence that made Patty so unforgettable.

Patty was artistic not only in talent, but in the way she live-surrounding herself with color, music, nature, collections, traditions, and meaningful relationships. She was sentimental in a beautiful way-keeping artwork, collections, prayer cards, obituaries, and even preserved fish because everything carried meaning and memory for her. She was adventurous, earless, and unconventional in many ways-pursuing painting, music, and even becoming a pilot at a time when that was much less common for women. She approached life with curiosity, humor, sentimentality, and a strong sense of individuality. Her legacy continues through her examples, life lessons and teachings, love and selflessness, and all the people whom she loved and cared or unconditionally. She will be missed by all those whose lives she touched.

Patty was the beloved wife of the late Ronald Dale Tateman, who passed away in 2015. They shared 56 years of marriage together and built a home filled with love and unwavering partnership. She was the devoted mother of Tamela A. Butler and husband James of Clayton, Ronald D. Tateman, Jr. and wife Diane of Tipp City, Patrick W. Tateman and wife Lisa of Springfield and Joy E. Rivera and late husband Angel of Dayton. Patty was the cherished grandmother of Ashley M. Rivera and partner John Congdon of Quincy, MA, Carlina P. Rivera of Columbus, Joshua A. Tateman and wife Megan of Vandalia, Zachary R. Tateman and wife Catie of Tipp City, Jacob E. Tateman and partner Amanda of Springfield, Samantha N. Jackson and husband Colton of Troy, Matthew J. Tateman, of Troy, Dr. Kailee R. Hess and husband Gary of Bellbrook, Conner Tateman of Tipp City, Collin R. Tateman and wife Lexi of Plain City, Casey L. Tateman and partner Olivia of Westchester, Kyler M. Tateman of Tipp City and Henry S. Butler of Clayton. Patty was great grandmother of 5: Zoey Tateman, Easton Jackson, Boone Jackson, Otto Tateman, Delilah Tateman, plus 2 on the way! She was the dear sister of William E. “Bill” Kuntz and his wife Mitzi of Jacksonville, FL, the late Beverly A. Anderson and her husband Richard, the late Honorable Henry N. “Nick” Kuntz, and sister-in-law, Bonnie Kuntz of Centerville. She was predeceased by her best friend of 70 years: Roseann (Longo) Lemp, who died in 2020. Patty is also survived by many loving nieces, nephews, extended family and friends.

In her memory, wear something colorful, spend time with your family, and take a trip to Indian Lake. 

A visitation will be held on Wednesday, July 15, 2026 from 5-8pm at Newcomer Funeral Home, 4104 Needmore Road, Dayton, Ohio 45424.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Thursday, July 16, 2026 at 11am at St. Christopher's Catholic Church, 435 East National Road, Vandalia, Ohio 45377.

To share a memory of Patty or to leave a special message for her family, please sign the online guestbook provided.