Patti Ann Westberg Gilbert

We regret to announce that our beloved Patti Ann Westberg Gilbert unexpectedly made her angel status official on June 30, 2022, from a complication of a scheduled medical procedure.

Patti was born to deaf parents Jerry Waldemar Westberg and Donna Lee Solt on June 14, 1954. Being a CODA (Child of Deaf Adult) shaped Patti’s early years and ignited her advocacy for the deaf community at a very young age. The oldest of 6 hearing children, she nurtured her younger siblings Sherry, Cindy, Becky, Vickie, and Les. She became one of the first certified education interpreters in the state of Utah in 1976. Her dexterity from sign language also made her a mean secretary and transcriptionist. She could almost make a keyboard smoke.

Nicholas John Gilbert Jr. III married her on July 8th, 1976, in the Salt Lake Temple, despite the fact that she out-bowled and out-fished him on their first few dates. Together they raised three children: Jennifer Kielkowski (Josh), Heidi Jo Gilbert, and Nicholas John Gilbert IV (Amanda Watson). If she had your ear, then you knew how proud Patti was of all of her children.

She learned to sew from her mother and made all of her own (and her daughters’) school dance dresses. She was a member of Granite High School’s Letter High Pep Club and may or may not have been responsible for adding the “FARMERS!” letters to the rear-ends of their uniforms. Patti learned a love of camping from her father. She loved to fish…but hated fish. Unless it was halibut, which was her favorite. She had many talents and interests; she was a gardener, wedding cake maker, and sewer of Care Bears with upside down bellies. An entrepreneur of glow forge ornaments, remembrance plates, and holographic sign language flash cards (coming soon to Amazon!). She had a passion for family history, which took her around the world to Sweden and Guernsey to meet living distant relatives who she adored. Her favorite role though, was being a cheerleader and spoiler of her 6 grandkids: Lucy, Cohen, Jack, Bennett, Emily, and Dallin.

Patti gave her whole heart to everything she did—Sunday dinners made with enough food for last-minute visitors to join. Or late-night canning sessions for peaches, pickles, or tomatoes. If she had her way with the world, radio stations would play Christmas music year-round and we would never take Christmas trees down. She was a great speller and loved word games like Scrabble, boasting a cool 98%-win percentage on Wordle. Organization was not necessarily a strength of hers, but we delighted in finding hidden Christmas presents at Easter. In the few days since her passing, we’ve been finding hand-written quotes and notes around the house that she had jotted down. This one felt especially true to Patti:

“The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate. To have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson.

She was love and service incarnate. Some of our closest family friends she met from a case of mistaken identity on a Trax train or buying a used car from a then-stranger on KSL. She was such a light to all she knew and had a knack for looking at the bright side of life. She shared a million little or large kindnesses that added up to a life well-lived and magnanimously loved.

Her love of family was only equaled by her love of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Any problem was met with a “Have you prayed about it?” or “There is always something to be grateful for.” One of the last notes she wrote read, “The older you get, the more you realize that it isn’t about material things, or pride or ego. It’s about our hearts and who they beat for.” Patti’s heartbeat for everyone she met. She lived her life for other people, especially those she loved. So many of our friends claim she was their second mom, and she was. But we are so glad she was ours, and that she is ours forever in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

There are no words to describe our devastation of losing you from this life. All we can say is that all that we are, you helped us to be. Thank you for sharing this well-lived life with us. We don’t quite know how to go on without you, but our first steps will be to take each day the way you did: with gratitude, positivity, faith, and love. Until we meet again!

Viewing will be held Wednesday, July 6th 6pm-8pm and Thursday, July 7th from 10:30-11:30am at the Lehi Utah Willow Park Stake center at 1998 W 900 North in Lehi, Utah. Funeral will be on Thursday July 7th at noon at the same address. Burial will be at Mountain View Memorial Cemetery at 3115 Bengal Blvd, Cottonwood Heights. Flowers can be sent to Larkin Sunset Gardens in Sandy, Utah.

To view the Completed Services click " Watch Services" or follow the link: https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/0r_ddMmOwdb0h_04_KGS5hCRLg0B2vf_VoaUVwP8_yT5fz5qc-0xgvN1rmEoxZSH.guZs26OtXh96xAn7?startTime=1657214526000