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Member Profiles
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Pat Kosley is one of those rare native Coloradans whom we see interspersed amongst the citizens from everywhere else. Born and raised in Ramah, Pat belongs to one of the early pioneer families who made this state so special.
"My grandparents fled from Austria and made their way to Colorado in 1892, settling on a farm north of Ramah," said Pat. "They raised 12 children on that farm - my dad was the youngest."
One of Pat's brothers still lives on the original farm where he raises cattle. Her second brother lives in Wisconsin.
Pat's grandfather was born in 1861, the year President Lincoln took office. Because he lived to the ripe old age of 96, Pat was fortunate to be able to know and spend time with him until she was 21 years old. Because her grandparents continued to speak their native Czech, she was fluent in both English and Czech while she was growing up. Unfortunately, with no one to "practice" with, the fluency has waned as the years have gone by.
After graduating from high school, Pat attended Colorado State University in Fort Collins where she majored in business. She moved to Colorado Springs and worked at Central Colorado Bank for six years. She married her husband Chuck (they've been together for 45 years!), had four children, and focused on raising her family for 21 years. When her youngest child was 11, Pat began working as a bridal consultant at Penney's where she stayed for 3-1/2 years. Although she loved the job, it entailed working weekends, which interfered with children coming home from college. She decided to find a job which didn't include weekend work and applied at Western National Bank. She settled in as a personal banker for 17 years until her retirement in 1999.
Pat and Chuck's four children include:
Karen, who lives in Oklahoma City and works as a dietitian. Karen has
two children.
Allen, who lives in Denver and works as a petroleum chemical engineer.
He has three children, including twin boys.
Katherine lives in Colorado Springs and works as a medical technologist
at Memorial Hospital. She has three children.
Kim lives in Monument and works as a part-time pharmacist at
Penrose-St. Francis. She also has three children.
Pat and Chuck's 11 grandchildren are all under the age of 10, which sounds like a lot of fun!
When she's not enjoying those grandchildren of hers, Pat loves sewing, decorating cakes, reading, photography and scrapbooking. She joined Zonta approximately eight years ago and enjoys the camaraderie the club offers. She first heard of Zonta from a woman she served in the bank and attended several meetings before joining ("I just wondered if I would have time to do justice to this group.") She was drawn to the goal of working towards the betterment of women and children, and hasn't regretted her decision to become a part of the organization.