Patricia Geneva Maxfield Wisniowski
1932 - 2025
Patricia Geneva Maxfield Wisniowski was born on June 10, 1932, in Woodsville, New Hampshire. Her parents were Irene and Albert Maxfield. Two brothers preceded her in birth, Richard and Dale, but sadly, they died a few days after birth.
Pat was raised in rural NH, her father being a hard working hired hand on a dairy farm. The family had no car, but Pat loved the outdoors and activities such as picking wild flowers in the meadow and riding her bike. She would regularly bike to various farms to pick strawberries and bushels of peas to earn a few cents a bushel. She also worked summers for a woman with a boarding house.
Pat was raised as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, but the family lived in an area without a nearby congregation. She faced ridicule and persecution in school during the war years for Christian neutrality, and specifically for not saluting the flag. Some highlights of her childhood included attending conventions of Jehovah’s Witnesses that were held in St. Louis and Cleveland. To attend, the family would take a train to Springfield Massachusetts and join other family members, driving the rest of the way as a group. A zone servant (traveling minister) encouraged Mom to get baptized if she loved Jehovah. So, at the age of 9, she was baptized along with many other young ones at a landmark convention in St. Louis, where she received her own copy of the book “Children”. She lost track of her family after the baptism and a brother put her on his shoulders to try to spot her parents in the crowd.
Pat graduated High School at Haverhill Academy with honors. Longing to be part of a congregation and to go somewhere more exciting, upon graduation she moved to Springfield Massachusetts, where she supported herself meagerly as a waitress and an office clerk. She rented a single room and went to a local congregation. Soon she met her future husband, Stanley Wisniowski, at a circuit assembly. He had been in prison for 2 ½ years in Danbury, Connecticut for maintaining Christian neutrality during WWII. They married on December 2, 1950.
In their married life, Pat was a homemaker and Pat and Stanley raised four children- Sharon Hoffman (Kyle), Sandra Iwanejko (Joe), Mark Wisniowski (Lori) and Scott Wisniowski (Amy). The family was active first in the Indian Orchard and later in the Chicopee Massachusetts congregations. All the children recount how Saturday mornings were always set aside for the field ministry and Christian meeting attendance was a priority. As adults, they have all expressed how grateful they were for this pattern. Pat shared in the full time pioneer ministry for some time when the children were little. She also assisted sisters with unbelieving husbands to share in the ministry by picking them up for service regularly, and this led to some lifelong friendships.
Pat was widowed in 1979, but she was determined to continue to care for the welfare of her family. She said, “only Jehovah knows what I went through at that time.” Her next move was to Highland, NY in 1982. In her new home, her desire to re-enter the full time ministry moved her to begin her next career- as a pioneer. In 1986 she moved to King, NC, continuing to pioneer for over 40 years until her death. This was so refreshing to her, a life she loved. Life still held many challenges and heartaches including loved ones being stricken with cancer and the loss of her oldest daughter, Sharon. She drew great strength from expressing her faith in the ministry. Some of her other “adventures” included traveling to Argentina for an international convention and doing seldom-worked territory in Nebraska. Pat supported herself in the full-time ministry as a seamstress and by cleaning houses until the age of 76. She put her heart into her ministry, always wanting to jump out of the car and talk at the doors. Many have memories of working with her in the ministry from when they were young and on into adulthood. She loved Jehovah and loved talking about Bible truth. When extreme old age made things difficult, she continued sharing Bible truth through letters several times a week. She would witness to any medical staff who attended to her, and they could see that this was what gave her life purpose. Mom found special comfort in the beautiful arrangements of Original songs, such as “Just Around the Corner” which expressed her own hope so well.
Pat and Stanley’s family later included four grandchildren (Heather, Ryan, Heidi and Jordan), as well as 4 great-grandchildren, (Jacob, Ariana, Eden and Hunter). She loved her sons-in-law and daughters-in-law as much as her own children and felt especially blessed that her own children were serving Jehovah faithfully along with their mates. They all look forward to being re-united in the resurrection, when Pat will finally get to meet her baby brothers and so many others dear to her. Patricia Wisniowski died peacefully at home on June 16, 2025 at the age of 93.
Memorial to be held Sunday, August 3 at 3:30 PM
Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses
416 Hartgrove Rd.
King, NC 27021
Zoom meeting ID: 858 2014 3913
Passcode: john528