PATRICIA ANN MUNGER, 1931-2010: Homemaker was an artist, seamstress

Patricia Ann Munger, a Perrysburg artist and homemaker known for her boundless energy and creativity, died Friday in Hospice of Northwest Ohio, Perrysburg Township, after suffering a heart attack.

She was 79.

Mrs. Munger was a world traveler with many talents and interests who put her creative eye to work not only in art but also in cooking, and designing and making her own clothing.

She also advised her late husband, noted architect Harold C. Munger, on colors and textures for his buildings.

She volunteered as an art teacher at St. Rose Catholic School in Perrysburg.

And she designed and made props for the Children's Theater Workshop and created graphics and logos for corporations and nonprofit agencies.

“She liked colors — bold colors — in her art,” said her son Hal Munger of Perrysburg.

Mrs. Munger studied with renowned Toledo artist Abraham Abramovsky for many years, her son said, and took classes at the Toledo Museum of Art.

The prolific artist primarily painted in watercolors but also worked with acrylics, charcoal and pastels, and sculpture.

Her artwork was exhibited in numerous juried shows including Crosby Gardens in Toledo and the Black Swamp Arts Festival in Bowling Green.

A skilled seamstress, Mrs. Munger would spot the latest fashions during her travels and bring the designs back to Perrysburg, where she would incorporate them into her hand-made clothes.

“She just had a passion about being creative,” her son said.

She also modeled for many area charity fashion shows.

Ann Dornback, of Bratenahl, east of Cleveland, said she and Mrs. Munger were friends since they were students at Perrysburg High School.

“I feel very lucky to have had her for a dear friend for 64 years. Everything she did was magic. She was smart but above all she was so funny and so much fun to be with,” Mrs. Dornback said.

Mrs. Munger excelled as a cook, her son said, mainly because she was not afraid to try new recipes.

“She was adventurous. She would see things that sounded good and she would try them,” Hal Munger said.

Mrs. Munger was born in Ottumwa, Iowa, the daughter of Peter and Clara Billeter. She moved with her family to Perrysburg in the late 1930s.

She and Mr. Munger were high school sweethearts who were married at St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church in Perrysburg in 1954 in a wedding that was covered extensively in The Blade's society pages.

Although she studied art for many years, Mrs. Munger never went to college “because you have to consider the times,” Hal Munger said.

She devoted herself to rearing her three boys, attending their many school and athletic activities.

Mrs. Munger was devout in her Catholic faith, “and she always would pray to the Blessed Mother,” her son said. “She always stayed close to the faith.”

Her late husband, a graduate of the University of Notre Dame, was chairman of Munger, Munger + Assoc., the downtown Toledo architectural firm that was founded by his father, Harold H. Munger.

Among the firm's award-winning designs were the $45 million addition to the Toledo-Lucas County Main Library in 2001 and numerous buildings on the campuses of the University of Toledo and Bowling Green State University.

Two of the Mungers' sons, Hal and David, also are architects.

Harold Munger died in 2001 at age 71.

Mrs. Munger is survived by her sons, Hal, Peter, and David Munger; six grandchildren, and a brother, John Billeter.

Visitation will be at the Witzler-Shank Funeral Home, Perrysburg, from 4 to 9 p.m. Mondya with a recitation of the Rosary at 7:30 p.m.

Prayers will be recited at the funeral home at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday before a Mass at 10:15 a.m. at St. Rose of Lima Church, Perrysburg.

The family suggests tributes to the St. Rose Church Sesquicentennial Fund or the Harold and Patricia Munger Fund at the Way Library Foundation.