Patricia S. Gorman

Patricia Selig Gorman, 93, died peacefully on July 10, 2014. Family, church, dancing, and education were the keystones to her life. She readily opened her heart and her home to all who knew her. She was preceded in death by her husband, Thomas F. Gorman of El Paso, who died September 10, 1994. Originally from Pennsylvania, Patricia (Pat) moved to El Paso in 1948 and lived there until her death. Born November 24, 1920 in Philadelphia, she was the second of two daughters of Moses A. Selig and Cornelia M. Selig. She attended parochial schools in Philadelphia and attended the University of Pennsylvania, graduating in 1942 with a Bachelor’s degree and a Master’s of Science in Education. Upon completion of her education Pat taught high school in Philadelphia and at a vocational college in Miami, FL. During the summer of 1948, Pat travelled to El Paso to visit a college classmate. Her friend took her to a square dance held on the roof of the El Paso airport. There she met Tom Gorman and married him shortly thereafter. She then accepted a teaching position at Bowie High School in El Paso. She took a break from her teaching career from 1949 to 1964 in order to raise her family of six children. During this time she was very active in church and school activities centered around St. Pius X Catholic Parish, where she and Tom were founding members and where all six of their children attended kindergarten through eighth grades. During this time she was also very active with the Girl Scouts, serving as a troop leader for several years. In 1964 Pat returned to teaching, spending one semester at St. Pius X Elementary School and later that year moving to Bel Air High School, where she remained until 1975. In 1975 Pat transferred to Eastwood High School, where she taught for three years before being selected to be the Supervisor for Business Education for the Ysleta ISD. She retired from the Ysleta ISD in 1983. Her talents for teaching were recognized with the Ysleta ISD Teacher of the Year award in 1970 and the Business Teacher of the Year, Region 10, Texas Business Education Association award in 1975-1976. Pat remained active in the Church throughout her life. In 1966-67 she served on the planning commission to establish St. Raphael’s Catholic Parish and to design the original church. She and Tom Gorman became founding members of St. Raphael’s in 1967. Over the course of many years she actively participated in various parish committees and she served as a lector for Mass until 2012. Pat loved to travel, having travelled broadly as a child with her parents, and she instilled that love in all of her family. The family travelled extensively throughout the continental U.S. and as the children grew up and left home, Pat and Tom travelled widely throughout the world, including to Europe, South America and Asia. Pat is survived by her six children: Mark Gorman of Silver Spring, MD; Eileen Gorman of Santa Fe, NM and her husband Thomas O’Brien; Cornelia Gorman of San Francisco, CA; Chris Gorman of Ellicott City, MD and his wife Judy Sheldon; Terry Gorman of Dallas, TX and his wife Karen Harmeyer Gorman; and Vickie Gorman-Page of Dallas, TX and her husband Gerald Page. She is also survived by her five grandchildren: Holly Gorman of Chicago, IL; Ivy Gorman Doss, of Germantown, MD and her husband Chris Doss; Thomas Gorman of Blacksburg, VA; Ryan Gorman and Katie Gorman of Dallas, TX. She is also survived by her nephew Karl Sooder and his wife Heather of Orlando FL; her niece Donna Carrick and her husband Bill Carrick of El Paso; her nephew Lynn Slater and his wife Billie of Austin, TX; her niece Peggy Fullmer and her husband Terry Fullmer of Anaheim, CA, and her first cousin Tom Monteverde of Philadelphia, PA. The family extends their thanks to these special ladies for their love and care of Pat over the last two years of her life: Liz Rivas, Shanna Feliciano, Raquel Duran, and Rosie Martinez. Visitation will be held from 4:00 - 9:00 p.m., with a Vigil to begin at 7:00 p.m., Tuesday, July 15, 2014 at Sunset Funeral Home-East, 750 N. Carolina Dr. Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 9:30 a.m., Wednesday, July 16, 2014 at St. Raphael Catholic Church, 2301 Zanzibar. Interment will follow at Ft. Bliss National Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Thomas and Patricia Gorman Fund Foundation for the Diocese of El Paso 499 St. Matthews Street El Paso, TX 79907