Mill Valley

Julia Patricia (Pat) Balmes peacefully passed away on October 23, 2024. Pat was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on February 11, 1933 to Fredrick A. Joyce and Elizabeth Speidel Joyce, and grew up in Chicago.

She earned a bachelor of science degree in Journalism from Northwestern University in 1955. Pat was employed in the public relations department of Hilton Hotels Corporation until she married Vernon R. Balmes and moved with him as he pursued his career as a tax attorney with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service in Cincinnati, Milwaukee and finally, San Francisco.

Pat was a writer in the feature section of the Marin Independent Journal from 1969 to 1976. She later worked for California food commodity boards and the California State Bar Association. She taught non-fiction writing for 15 years in the College of Marin community education department. During the more than 50 years the family lived in Marin, she and her daughters rode their Arabian horses in Marin. She was preceded in death by her husband, Vernon. She is survived by her daughters Kathleen Kiefer (John) and Julie Wilson (Marc), and grandchildren, Caitlin, Molly and Jack.