Pat Bonardi, Longtime Westfield Resident
Patricia “Pat” Bonardi died peacefully on Sunday, February 22, at her home in Leesburg, VA, following a long illness.
Pat was born in Brooklyn, NY, on May 26, 1939, the second of three children, to Helen and Martin Doyle. Her siblings, Ellen McCartney and Martin (Maureen) Doyle, survive her. She was proud of her Irish heritage and her family who emigrated from Ireland in the early twentieth century. Her close extended family spent summer vacations at Breezy Point where Pat and her cousin Tom once won the annual Freckle Contest.
She was smart and ambitious and worked throughout high school in a neighborhood pharmacy and considered becoming a pharmacist, but after graduating St. John’s University turned to banking and worked at Manufacturers Hanover, where she met her first husband Kent Simons. She was forced to leave the bank when her first pregnancy became visible. Recognizing the sexism, she still took pride in the fact that her employers let her stay on longer than other pregnant women because she was such a good employee, whom they had been planning to promote.
Pat and Kent moved to Westfield, NJ, and were living there when their marriage ended. A single mother with five children under the age of 12, she embarked on a job search, still unusual in the 1970s. She was hired by The Prudential Insurance Company in Newark and quickly demonstrated her intelligence, commitment, and diligence. She was well respected by her peers and superiors as an important contributor in whatever role she was in. Pat retired from The Prudential as a Vice President in Corporate Services. Given her unconventional path into the corporate world, she rightfully felt a deep satisfaction in her success.
Pat married her second husband, Dante Bonardi, in 1985. They met at a tennis event for singles over 40 and tennis remained a shared passion for many years. With Dan she was able to enjoy traveling especially to Italy and Great Britain. They took courses at Drew University and spent summers with extended family at LBI. Their marriage lasted 40 years until Dan’s death in February 2025. She was deeply loved for her kindness, loyalty, and sense of humor. If she became active in an organization, she often found herself one of its leaders. She always had a plan and wanted to be productive and helpful and practical. She held herself to high standards, always saying she could have done something better, or she would try harder next time. She cared deeply about social justice and the current political climate. She loved to read and followed politics and sports, especially tennis, closely. She was a put-together lady, who always had her hair combed, make-up and earrings on no matter how badly she felt physically.
Pat is survived and deeply missed by her children Tracey (Donald), Kevin (Kaylanee), Kim (David), and Amy (Matt), as well as Erika, the wife of her beloved son David who predeceased her. She had 10 grandchildren Olivia (Jacob), James, Luke, Catherine, Eleanor, Tess, Logan, Dash, Marcelo, and Veronica, along with step-daughters Diane (Mark), Denise, and AnnMarie (Salvatore), who also remember her.
Donations in Pat’s name can be made to the Friends of the Westfield Memorial Library, an organization she was involved with for many years. A celebration of her life will be held in New Jersey later this year.
