Patricia Faulkner Guest died peacefully at her home in Nelsonville, New York, on Sunday, June 22, 2025, surrounded by her loving family. She was 92.
Mrs. Guest was born April 18, 1933 in Pensacola, Florida, to Ira Thomas Faulkner, the assistant postmaster for the City of Pensacola, and Margaret Rauscher Faulkner, a devoted mother and homemaker. She adored and was adored by her older sister, Hilda, and brother, John.
She attended public schools in Pensacola, graduating from Pensacola High School in 1951. During junior high school and high school, she played clarinet in school bands, and met another clarinet player named Gareth Guest. After high school graduation, she studied for two years at Valparaiso University in Indiana before completing her bachelor’s degree at George Peabody College in Nashville, Tennessee.
In September 1954, she and Gareth were married. They lived in Nashville, Tennessee, for one year, then moved to Madison, Wisconsin, where Gareth pursued his PhD in physics. They had three children as they moved from Wisconsin to Texas to Tennessee, finally making their home in La Jolla, California, for 35 years. Mrs. Guest relocated across the country in 2007 to Nelsonville, New York, to be close to her youngest daughter and help care for her two youngest grandchildren.
Mrs. Guest was a passionate supporter of the arts and a committed social activist. She taught piano to children and adults for several decades, and served as the manager of the San Diego Civic Youth Orchestra for many years. She founded and ran Open Door Books, a successful book store in San Diego. Her strong passion for bettering the lot of her fellow human beings led her to teach literacy in poor schools, to provide transportation for poor or disabled individuals, to tutor Vietnamese refugees in English, and to take a leadership role in the San Diego chapter of Soroptomist International (winning the Woman of the Year Award in 1996), a volunteer organization supporting women and girls to realize their educational dreams.
She earned a master’s degree in social work from San Diego State University, and for 12 years was the director of the Community Christian Service Agency, providing support to unhoused and needy residents of San Diego County. Through her volunteer and professional life, she impacted the lives of thousands of individuals.
She is survived by her husband of 71 years, Gareth; three nieces (Phyllis, Cheryl and Beth); her son John (Debbie), daughter Allison Nyquist (Craig), and daughter Maia Guest (John Plummer); six grandchildren (Sarah, Rachel, Peter, Kullan, Charlie and James), and six great-grandchildren (Emma, Charlotte, Parker, Hunter, Andrew and Violet).
A memorial service will be held on July 21 beginning at 10 a.m. at the Cold Spring United Methodist Church at 216 Main St., followed by a reception. A burial and funeral service will be held in Pensacola, Florida, on July 1 at 11 a.m. at Bayview Memorial Park.
Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Clinton Funeral Home- Cold Spring.
