Patricia "Pat" Frances Albrecht (née McGoldrick) was a storyteller, a sports fan, a musician, a librarian, and above all the heart of a loving family.

Born in Chicago, Illinois on October 29th, 1933 to Mary and Patrick McGoldrick, Pat was the fifth of six siblings. She inherited a love of music from her parents, who filled her childhood home with story and song. She always joined in with her beautiful soprano voice. Alongside the joy of her early family life, she experienced hardship. She lost her older sister Mary, her father, and several other relatives to tuberculosis. Both her brothers served in combat during World War II, and she prayed daily for their safe return home.

In 1953, she was set up on a blind date at Willowbrook Ballroom. She was thrilled (Pat loved dancing), and she looked forward to meeting a dashing young man who would sweep her off her feet and onto the dance floor. Instead, she met the love of her life, Donald E. "Red" Albrecht, who preferred to listen to music from the comfort of his seat. In the years to come, though, he would get up for a few songs, hold her close, and tell her he loved her ("though he didn't need to do that, because I knew," she confided at her 90th birthday party). They married on February 6, 1954.

Together, they raised five children in Thornton, IL. Theirs was a loud and loving household whose play ranged across the loud and loving neighborhood. In the years to come, their house became a second home to their grandchildren.

Pat was a pillar of the Thornton community. She worked as a recess monitor, secretary, and librarian at Parkside and Wolcott Schools. She sang in the choirs of Saint John's Catholic Church and South Suburban College. Through those jobs and into her retirement, she held court in her driveway, surrounded by neighbors and family.

She played cards and bingo with a keen and competitive eye, shouted through Chicago Bulls and Black Hawks games with gusto, and filled countless rooms with laughter with her unpredictable and witty stories. She led her family with love, watching it grow through marriages and the birth of great-grandchildren.

Pat was a woman of profound faith. A proud and devout Catholic, she firmly believed that she would one day join her Savior and the family who preceded her in death, especially her beloved husband Donald, who passed away in 1999, and her eldest son Donald Jr., who passed in 2013. She was granted this sweet reunion on the evening of June 10, 2026.

Pat is survived by four children, Louise (Robert) Albrecht-Mallinger, Richard (Florence), Ed (Susan) and Kathleen (Mark) Jahnke; her daughter-in-law the Hon. Adrienne Wakat Albrecht (Ret.); fourteen grandchildren: Don, Rich, Patty, Brittany, Renee, Daniel, Angela, Eric, Paul, Meredith, Kyle, Craig, Jayson, and Heather; and nine great-grandchildren: Keller, Boey, & Rowan; George & Lydia; Rose & Anna; and Josie & Jade.

Visitation will take place Monday, June 22nd, 4:00-8:00pm at The Schroeder-Lauer Funeral Home, 3227 Ridge Rd., Lansing. Funeral Service will be held on Tuesday, June 23 at All Souls Parish (3010 Ridge Rd, Lansing, IL) for Mass at 10am, followed by burial at Assumption Cemetery in Glenwood.