Summit Hill’s newest nonagenarian, Patricia “Pat” Matika, of 227 W. Hazard St., was the guest of honor Saturday at a surprise birthday party attended by over 100 family members, friends, neighbors and former co-workers.

Born on Oct. 1, 1936, she is a daughter of the late Victor and Mary B. (Brics) Leonzi, and the widow of Joseph Matika. They had been married for 57 years before his passing in 2014.

Pat is a 1953 graduate of the former Summit Hill High School and a 1957 graduate of the Misericordia School of Nursing, where she received her Registered Nurse degree.

She initially worked in the pediatrics department of the former Palmerton Hospital and later worked for the former Coaldale State General Hospital and the former Gnaden Huetten Memorial Hospital, Lehighton, before assuming a position at the St. Luke’s Hospital, Miners Campus, Coaldale, where she worked for 19 years before retiring in 1999 as the head nurse in the telemetry department.

She is the mother of three sons and two daughters, including the Hon. Joseph J. Matika, judge of the Carbon County Court of Common Pleas, and his wife, Jeanine, and Patti Jo, wife of Neal Ebbert, both of Lehighton, and Daniel, and his wife, Val, Beth Matika, and her significant other, Ray Sediva, and Jerry, all of Summit Hill.

Pat has 14 grandchildren, Adam, Alex, Ally, Mia, Neal, Geoff, Andrew, Megan, Kiersten, Trey, Nicole, Wade, Gregory and Jason, and 11 great-grandchildren, Mirabella, Viviana, Joel, Ada, Tessa, Wesley, Kathleen, Tanner, Luca, Ben, Everly, and a 12th great-grandson, Noah, on the way.

The birthday celebrant is a member of St. Joseph Catholic Church of the Panther Valley, Summit Hill, and the Summit Hill Red Hat Society.

An avid Phillies fan, her surprise birthday party featured a Phillies theme in which the majority of her well-wishers wore Phillies attire.

She had two siblings, Victor Leonzi and Phyllis Seems (Roy), who passed away.