Patricia LaPlaca

Patricia LaPlaca, 83, of Whitehall, N.Y., died August 19,  2018 from complications of a stroke.

Her life was defined by a strong devotion to family, a sharp sense of humor, a tremendous work ethic and a love of the Boston Red Sox.

She is survived by four children, Chris LaPlaca of Farmington, CT and his wife Leah; Laurie Wilbur of Whitehall, and her husband Francis; Damian LaPlaca of San Juan, Puerto Rico; and Nick LaPlaca of Queensbury, NY; six grandchildren, Brandon, Colin and Caitlin Wilbur, and Lisa, Grace and Lucy LaPlaca; one great granddaughter, Sofia Franco; three nieces and nephews, Richard and Jeff Hobus, and Diane Jones; and several other relatives.

She was pre-deceased by her husband, Nick LaPlaca; mother, Helen Hebert; stepfather, Tom Hebert; and sister, Joan Hobus.

Immediately following her graduation from Whitehall High School in 1952, Pat worked as a waitress in nearby Lake George, NY. Shortly after that, she became a telephone operator in Whitehall, in the days when calls needed to be physically connected via a jack; she always joked that nobody knew more about what was going on in town than she and her colleagues did. After some time as a bank teller in town, she met and married Nick LaPlaca, who passed in 2005.

Together, they built a wonderful family and successful businesses, starting with the Whitehall Motel in the late 1950s; then the Redwood Motel and Steakhouse, which they operated for more than 20 years before selling in 1982; and later, the Paddock Restaurant, all in Whitehall.

She and her husband divided their professional responsibilities in this way:  Pat ran the motel, and Nick the restaurant.

Running the motel meant phone calls, doorbells rung by walk-in customers, planning advanced reservations, customer service and much more. For Pat, it also meant simultaneously feeding, bathing, clothing, reading stories, helping with homework and the hundreds of other jobs a mother does in raising four children. Organized chaos was the order of many days, and Pat was at the center of it all. It was common for the preparation of a family dinner or bath time to be constantly interrupted, yet at the end of each day, Pat flawlessly met the growing needs of first, her family, and then, her customers...a seemingly impossible feat her family always looked back on with amazement, admiration and great respect.

She was a devoted wife, mother, grandmother, great grandmother, daughter and sister, a compassionate and humorous friend, and a source of common sense and wisdom to all who knew her over the years.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made in her honor to Slate Valley Center or the Holbrook Adult Home, both in Granville, NY; any contributions would go towards products and programs dedicated to improving the lives of their residents.

Family and friends may call from 6pm to 8pm on Tuesday, August 21, 2018 at the Jillson Funeral Home Inc. 46 Williams Street, Whitehall, NY 12887.  A Mass of Christian Burial will be conducted at 11:00am on Wednesday August 22, 2018 at the Our Lady of Hope Roman Catholic Church, Skene Street, Whitehall, with the Reverend Rendell Torres, Pastor officiating.  Interment will follow the Mass in the Our Lady of Angels Cemetery.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Patricia LaPlaca, please visit our floral store.