Patricia A. Guerrero
Patricia Ann Guerrero (Donovan) 74 years old, passed away after a yearlong fight with cancer that she handled with grace and dignity on Wednesday, April 15, 2026 at the Beaver City Manor, Beaver City, NE. Daughter of Paul Lucius Donovan and Shirley June Donovan, was born July 15th, 1951, in Leadville, CO where her father Paul worked in the Climax Mine. Pat is the first of five children Jeanette, Jim, Debbie and John. At a very young age she had undergone an experimental heart surgery and recovered exceptionally. Pat was also a caretaker for her younger siblings on the family farm while her parents worked the sugar beet fields in Hudson, CO until the kids were all old enough to help work the fields. She learned to cook meals and bake while overlooking her siblings and preparing meals for her family.
Pat graduated high school from Prospect Valley High in Hudson CO and then attended airline flight attendant school to be a stewardess in Denver CO. After graduating airline school, her mother Shirley moved her to Omaha NE to live with roommates and work a job with her friends at a reservation switchboard company. During this time she met her first husband Mike Kelly (Sr.) who was an Air Force Sergeant in Vietnam and married in 1971. A year later in 1972, they moved to Edison, NJ while expecting their first child “Rebecca Rachelle Kelly” where Mike Kelly (Sr.) started working at Xerox Corporation as a copier repair technician.
In 1976 they welcomed a son, Michael Shane Kelly into their life as their second child.
In 1978 the Kelly family relocated to Grand Junction, CO. After a few years Mike Kelly (Sr.) and Patricia grew apart and chose to dissolve their marriage.
After a few years, Patricia remarried to her second husband Edward Jim Guerrero in 1985 and relocated to Montrose, CO soon thereafter.
Pat worked a sales job at a clothing store, then became an electronics department manager at Wal-Mart until her and her husband Ed opened their own antique shop, Patties Antiques in 1995. Patty and Ed loved the Denver Broncos and would enjoy the games, enjoy picnics, enjoy trips to the mountains, shopping and thrift store treasure hunting with her daughter Becky and attending the stock car races with her son Mike that always made things interesting for the fans. Patricia took her first Mike Kelly (Sr.)
Husbands’ child from his second marriage “Jack Kelly” under her wing as her own as a selfless act of love without question to be part of the family. Pat always encouraged her children, family, nephews and nieces to attend church and even was a Sunday School teacher for a while.
In 2005 Patricia, welcomed her first grandchild from Mike and his Wife Leighann Kelly “Racquel Rain Kelly”. Shortly after the first grandchild, Pat welcomed her second and 3rd grandchildren from daughter Becky “Zachary Taylor Vaughn” and then “Tristin Daniel Vaughn”.
Pat was always a very kind, loving and protective, yet stern if needed, mother and grandmother.
Pat and Ed loved the grandkids, babysitting, family time, holidays, playing cards, eating jerky, Dairy Queen and of course watching the Broncos with the kids and grandkids.
Pat and Ed ran the antique business whole heartedly until 2004 when they retired due to her husband Ed’s declining health. A few years after retiring, Pat’s second husband Ed had passed away due to heart failure.
Patricia took this passing very hard and spent much time with her family and was a fulltime babysitter for Mike and Leigh Ann’s daughter Racquel while they worked hard at their two businesses.
In 2008, Patricia moved to Beaver City to help take care of her sister Jeanette that caught West Nile Virus and to be closer to help her mother Shirley, father Paul and other family members. Patty was always helping everyone she cared about and was selfless in her nature as a caregiver of others.
Pat was a very kind, loving, loyal and compassionate person. She chose to stay loyal to her late husband Ed and chose never to date or remarry again after he passed.
Patty poured all of herself, her love and caring into her kids, grandchildren, parents, family and friends.
Pat was preceded in death by her father Paul Lucius Donovan, brother Jim Donovan and sister Jeanette Allen.
During Pat’s courageous battle with cancer, her doctors had stated that she would not make it through the night or through the next day on five or six occasions. The hospitals and doctors panicked due to the degree of complications and severity of her health conditions through her battle and attempted to send her home on hospice for months and months. She overcame multiple organ failure, severe skin wounds, organ ruptures, overcoming septic shock in addition to multiple life-threatening conditions. Her children Becky, Mike, his wife Leigh Ann, granddaughter Racquel, mother Shirley and sister-in-law Anita Donovan stayed by her side as a team and worked together to encourage her to survive “her” fight!
Patty did just that, she fought and overcame until she decided to stop treatment and check-out according to her own rules, nine months after the doctors stated that she had no chance to survive the night, she decided to leave this earth, when she chose to, in peace, on her own terms. What a wonderful, strong and encouraging mother, grandmother and daughter she was!
During Pat’s hospital stay, we would debate with the doctors over and over for hours in front of her, for the specialists to continue her treatment.
I would proclaim often, “she is a robust mother!”.
She would grin proudly and would not hesitate to call on her son Mike to strike up a debate with the doctors when they tried to send her home or attempt to refuse further treatment, she knew she was loved! Her will to live, her love for God and her family has astounded and encouraged many doctors, nurses and specialists because she had overcome so much that she was an anomaly that had seasoned specialists of 40+ years of experience at a loss for words at her ability to thrive. She was proof that God is indeed in control and there was no denying it!
Patricia is survived by her mother Shirley Donovan, her sister Debbie, her brother John “Anita”, her daughter Becky “Zach & Tristan”, son Mike “Leigh Ann & Racquel”, stepson Jack “Amanda, Atraya & Aliyah”.
Patricia was a wonderful, loving, caring, selfless, God-fearing daughter, wife, sister, mother and grandmother. We are all blessed to have had her in our lives. She will be dearly missed, but for us, it’s not goodbye, it’s see you later! We love you and until we see you again there will be a hole in our heart that can only be filled by you!!!
Until we meet again, you will be in our thoughts and on our hearts, my sweet dear mother!!!
Memorial service will be at a later date. Garey Funeral Home of Beaver City, Nebraska is in charge of the arrangements.
Condolences and personal reflections may be left at gareyfuneralhome.com
