On January 26, 2022, after several months of declining health, Patricia “Patsy” Chase, of SaddleBrooke, Arizona, passed away in Tucson to the background tune of “Mr. Bojangles.” Born in Winslow, Maine, to Maurice and Antoinette Raymond, she was 87. She attended Winslow schools and began working at a local bank and department store after high school.  But those jobs had absolutely no chance to keep her away from her first love, the art of dance, which defined her entire life. 

Not realizing what would eventually become a successful career, “Miss Patsy” started teaching tap dance lessons in her parents’ kitchen at the age of 17. Even though her father had to replace the damaged flooring, she had her parents’ support; after all, Patsy’s love of dance started when they gave her dance lessons as a birthday gift at the age of five.  

For the first half of her life, Patsy used her passion for dance and her outgoing personality to touch the lives of hundreds of young dancers, parents, and friends in Maine.  She established Patsy’s School of Dance in 1952 and ran that phenomenally successful business in home studios for more than 25 years. Students came from miles around to learn tap, ballet, and jazz dancing from Miss Patsy, some traveling over an hour on snowy Maine roads to get to weekly classes.

Patsy was married to her first husband, Gerald “Gerry” Ulma, from 1955 until his premature death in 1977. Together, they had two sons, Jeff and Todd.  So influential was her reputation, some people only knew Gerry as “Mister Patsy!”  He, too, supported her career and built two homes with her that were designed around basement studios.  During the school year she prepared for classes and then taught from 3:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. every weeknight. After classes were over for the night, Patsy’s sons can still recall the sound of the old adding machine “clacking” away at the kitchen desk when it was time to “do the books.”   Along with the dancing sounds, Jeff and Todd also remember coming home from school to the aromas of cakes, cookies, apple pies and chocolate “whoopie pie” desserts that their Mom, also a great cook, would leave on the counter before going down to the studio.

During the first chapter of her career, Miss Patsy choreographed and staged 28 annual dance recitals at the Waterville Opera House. The event became so successful she had to schedule two nights of shows to accommodate overflow audiences. Not satisfied with simply presenting student routines in a random way, Miss Patsy’s recitals were all crafted around themes, with popular music and relevant costumes. The number of students eventually grew to 350 dancers and Patsy partnered with one of her first students, Cynthia Crowell, to expand to “Patsy & Cindy’s School of Dance” in 1970. 

Starting with her inaugural show, “Recital Time,” in 1953, subsequent shows included “Vaudeville Stars of 1960,” “Show Biz” in 1967, “Dance to the Music” in 1974, “A Silver Anniversary Extravaganza” in 1977 to celebrate 25 years of operation, “A Night in Vegas” in 1979, and ended with “The S.S. Dance Cruise” for 1980’s rendition.  Miss Patsy’s last show did provide what the program always promised – “Entertainment Pleasure” – with 45 different performances that final year. In addition to the dancing school lessons, Patsy supported the local community by volunteering her students to perform at various events and venues, such as local parades, holiday parties, and nursing homes. She retired on April 27, 1980, after a sold-out recital season, signing off with “Dancingly Yours, Miss Patsy.” 

Throughout her dancing career, Miss Patsy continued to expand her personal dance skills by taking lessons from professional teachers. She and her students attended many training sessions offered by the Maine Dance Teachers Association and were evaluated for their technical skills in ballet. She capped off the yearly training by bringing a number of students to New York City each summer.  For four straight days, Patsy and her pupils took lessons from other talented teachers. With some 300 students on the ballroom floor during sessions, several of Patsy’s students were recognized and pulled from the dance floor to demonstrate on stage the routines they just learned from the instructor. This would make Miss Patsy extremely proud as her infectious smile beamed at their accomplishments.

Patsy’s encouragement inspired many students to gain confidence and use their own dance talents.  Several of them won local and state beauty pageants, dance competitions or performed in other theater productions.  Some extended their childhood lessons to become members of national ballet companies, cruise ship performers, or show dancers in Las Vegas. In a lasting tribute, several students started their own dancing schools to continue the Miss Patsy tradition.  She was often invited to return to perform routines in their recitals, billed as a “very special guest.”

In the spring of 1979, Patsy met her loving and devoted husband, George “Bud” Chase, from Andover, Maine. In 1980, at the encouragement of her sons, they packed all their belongings and left Maine for the warmer climate of Arizona which they called home for the last 41 years.  Patsy and Bud were married in 1989 at the Cathedral of Saints Peter & Paul, U.S. Virgin Islands.  Together, they formed an enduring, happy relationship based on family, friends and fun.  They eventually settled in the active adult community of SaddleBrooke, north of Tucson, and both found new careers, made hundreds of friends, and took up many new activities.

After her arrival in Tucson, Patsy committed herself to obtaining a college degree, something she always longed to do. She attended Pima Community College and received her associates degree as an executive secretary in 1988. She then began working for the college as an administrative assistant in the counseling department, retiring in 1996. 

Once again, not to be kept from the world of dance by other occupations, she started “moonlighting” by teaching tap dance lessons at the school, with the class being eligible for course credits for her students.  Eventually, she gained an interest in the clogging style of dance as she formed the “Arizona Desert Stars” dance troupe at SaddleBrooke.  They made a mark with what Patsy called “clogging with a flair,” performing on their community stage, at events for governors, and for an international audience in 2000 at the invitation of the Innsbruck Performing Arts Festival in Austria.

Pat and Bud became very involved in different hobbies and club activities in their neighborhood.  They actively took part in the motorcycle and bicycling clubs, and she was a member of the “Verde Sputters,” women who held golf putting competitions at the clubhouse. They also traveled extensively to timeshare resorts across the country and trekked to see sights around the world, visiting various locations like Fiji, New Zealand and Australia; the Panama Canal; Thailand; Scandinavia; the Caribbean; and Europe by air and by sea.  At the age of 72, Patsy also joined Bud - with a little trepidation - as they rode their motorcycle across the United States in 2006 and 2008 and toured the Rocky Mountains and Pacific Northwest in 2007. After only one day on the road of their first long-distance trip, she fell in love with the adventure, especially when Bud made sure that their itinerary included the chance to visit with former students, family members, acquaintances, and special places like the dance and skating hall of fame facilities.

Patsy is survived by her loving husband, George “Bud” Chase of SaddleBrooke, AZ. She leaves behind her older brother, Thomas Raymond, and his wife, Shirley (Ayotte) Raymond, of Damariscotta, ME, and younger brother Lewis Raymond and his wife, Cathy (Dearborn) Raymond, of Winslow ME. She is also survived by her sons, Jeffery G. “Jeff” Ulma and his wife, Paula Siviski-Ulma, of Mount Pleasant, SC; Todd P. Ulma and his wife Cheryl (Mayo) Ulma of Sparks, NV; Bob Chase, step-son, of Andover, ME; stepson Brian Chase, of Andover, ME; granddaughter Lauryn (Ulma) Johnson, her husband Jimmy Johnson, and great-grandson, Lincoln Johnson of New Hill, NC; and grandson Bryan Ulma and his fiancée, Hannah Janosko, of Cary, NC.

In remembrance, former students and friends describe Patsy as a teacher and good friend who was “… strong, fun, classy, graceful, special, energetic, happy, and a one-of-a-kind star who held an audience in the palm of her hand.” Although she is no longer with us, Patsy would surely tell us all that “The Show Must Go On!”  We can rest assured that she is following her own advice and is already signing up new students and working on her next show!

A “Celebration of Life” event will be scheduled later in the spring to honor this wonderful woman. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the American Heart Association at www.heart.org.