When Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was a professor at Stanford University, she exhorted her Political Science students to: “Find your passion…what makes you want to get up in the morning.” I found Patricia Manos’ journey to discover her passion, i.e. to control the stray cat population, a story worth sharing.

FAMILY BACKGROUND:
Patricia Manos was born on August 26, 1954 at Westchester Square Hospital in the Bronx. Her parents Martin and Kathleen Kaiser were delighted to welcome their only child, whom they called Pat, to their household. When she was six years old, the family moved to Astoria and enrolled Pat at St. Joseph’s Grammar School. When she completed grade school, with encouragement from her parents, she selected St. Joseph’s High School in Brooklyn, because of its reputation for excellence. Despite a long and tedious commute, she enjoyed her high school years.

When she was 17 years old, her parents moved to Maspeth, and
they have been residents of that community ever since. After graduating from high school, Pat enrolled at LaGuardia Community College and studied business.

After graduating from LaGuardia, Pat held several administrative positions. The one she remembers most vividly was that of Customer Service Manager at Colonial Trimming. This job provided her with many opportunities to travel and interact with a variety of people. One of the people, whom she met on her travels, actually in an elevator at The Chemist Club, was her husband-to-be, Nicholas Manos. They were married on August 4, 1979 at St. Stanislaus Kostka Church in Maspeth. For 25 years, Nick has held a faculty position at New York City College of Technology. He is the current Chairman of the Dental Restorative Department at the college.

Pat and Nick are the proud parents of two beautiful young women. Their daughter Cassanda (23) is a graduate of Loyola University in Maryland, where she has had an opportunity to
travel to Bangkok and do volunteer work in Thailand. Their youngest daughter,Cynthia (20) a pre-med student is majoring in Biology at Providence College in Rhode Island.

DISCOVERING HER PASSION:
One of my favorite axioms comes from the book,The Celestine Prophecy. It reads,“There is no such a thing as coincidence, its all part of the great cosmic design.” About four years ago, Pat received a gift certificate from her daughters for a massage at Jades on Elliot Avenue in Middle Village.When she was leaving the building she noticed many stray cats roaming around the grounds. Most of the cats appeared hungry and several were malnourished and injured. It seemed the cats were drawn to Pat, and she spent time “talking” to them. Then and there she decided that she was going to do something to improve their condition and to try to control their procreation. She gets up every morning at 5:30 a.m. to bring food and water to an ever-decreasing population of cats, and many times is met by two gentlemen, Steve and Frank, who assist in feeding and examining the cats. In the past four years, Pat has taken 23 of these stray cats to Noah’s Ark in Bellerose to be spayed or neutered. And she picks up the tab for these procedures, no small personal expense. The Manos family adopted three of the cats, whom they have named Apollo, Athena, and Hermes, and has found homes for many others. She now estimates that there are approximately seven cats left to roam the railroad tracks, which is a big improvement over the original situation.

OTHER VOLUNTEER WORK IN THE COMMUNITY:
All four members of the Manos family serve as Ushers during the Masses at St. Stanislaus Church in Maspeth. Pat has served as a Brownie-Girl Scout Leader for the past seventeen years. She is also a CYO track officer and supervises jumps at Astoria Park in the summer and Pratt Institute in the winter. Pat continues to be an active member of the Ladies Auxiliary of The Knights of Columbus. Pat is a busy woman, no doubt.

GOALS AND SPECIAL INTERESTS:
Pat,Nick, and their daughters are world travelers and plan to vacation in Egypt in late December. She especially likes it when the family travels together and can share new experiences. In the very near future, her goal is to have “no cats roaming the railroad tracks,” in Middle Village, and to continue to do her part to “control the pet population,” by having stray cats spayed or neutered. Bob Barker would be proud!