West Sonoma County educator, singer Patricia Ann Hagopian dies at 67

A singer-songwriter, artist, therapist and educator, Patricia Ann Hagopian was known, in a wide circle of friends throughout California, for her outgoing personality and boisterous laugh.

Hagopian, a west Sonoma County resident for about 40 years, died of cancer Friday at her Sebastopol home. She was 67.

“People would say she was the life of the party,” said Francesca Gonnella of Berkeley, recalling her mother’s sunny, sociable nature.

A longtime friend, Lois Downy of South Lake Tahoe, said Hagopian’s loud, carefree laugh “filled up a room.”

She was also a deeply spiritual person, whose interests included symbolism, archetypes and mythology, Downy said. One of Hagopian’s compositions for the Occidental Community Choir dealt with crossing the mythological River Styx, the boundary between the Earth and the underworld.

Hagopian, an alto, sang with the Occidental-based choral group for more than 30 years.

Born in the seaside community of La Jolla, Hagopian grew up in San Diego, attending public schools and earning the first of her four college degrees at San Diego State University, where she received a bachelor’s degree in psychology, philosophy and English in 1970.

After moving to Sonoma County in the late 1970s, she earned a master’s degree in comparative literature from San Francisco State University in 1978, followed by a teaching credential in English, Spanish and psychology from Sonoma State University in 1988 and finally a master’s degree in counseling from Pacifica Graduate Institute in 2000.

Hagopian worked for much of her life as a waitress and bartender, including jobs at the Union Hotel and Negri’s Restaurant, both in Occidental.

She also worked as a counselor for the Bellevue School District in Santa Rosa, the Drug Abuse Alternatives Center and West County Community Services and as a therapist in private practice. She taught English and Spanish in the Santa Rosa City Schools, including Montgomery and Piner high schools, from 1988-1994.

Hagopian was married to Mark Gonnella, a co-owner of the Union Hotel who died in 2007 and was the father of her children, Teddy Gonnella of Sebastopol and Francesca Gonnella.

Music and art were a big part of Hagopian’s life; she wrote poems and songs, short stories and memoirs, painted portraits and played guitar. She was also interested in astrology and tarot, enjoyed gardening and her grandchildren.

In training as a therapist, Hagopian studied Jungian psychology, following the concepts founded by Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung, which involve balancing the tension between the darker side of humanity and the light side associated with goodness.

Hagopian maintained that view during her painful battle with cancer, said Downy, who with her husband, George Freund, lived with and cared for Hagopian prior to her death. “Even as she was suffering, she found a place for love and joy,” Downy said. “We shared a lot of laughter with her.”

Survivors, in addition to her children, are her sister, Marsha Hagopian of Ouzinkie, of Alaska; brother, John Hagopian of Berkeley; stepmother, Doris Marie Hagopian of San Francisco; four grandchildren and numerous cousins.

A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. Sunday at the Occidental Center for the Arts, 3850 Doris Murphy Ct. in Occidental. Memorial donations may be made to the Occidental Community Choir, P.O. Box 691, Occidental, 95465.

Private burial will be at Pleasant Hills Memorial Park in Sebastopol.