Patti K. Furrer, age 66, of Marlborough, CT, passed away Friday, September 4th, 2026. Patti was born March 20th, 1960 in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin as Patti Kay Waldschmidt, a daughter of Marvin and Mary (Bowman) Waldschmidt.
Through her entire life she was a determined and driven person. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a master's degree in metallurgical engineering. She started her career with positions in General Motors and Wisconsin Centrifugal casting foundry.
She married David Ulrich Furrer, her college sweetheart, friend and colleague on October 13th, 1990 in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. They built their first home in Greenfield, Wisconsin.
She continued her career in materials and manufacturing quality by creating her own company, which provided sole contract support to Det Norske Veritas (DNV), a leading global quality registrar. As a lead auditor, Patti assessed countless companies, large and small, to compliance to international quality standards. Patti and David joined Rolls-Royce in Indianapolis, Indiana. There they built their second house in Brownsburg, Indiana. Patti became a repair process engineer, who supported the maintenance and sustainability of Rolls-Royce commercial and military aircraft engines. Patti and David moved to Connecticut and joined Pratt & Whitney, a major commercial and military aircraft engine design and manufacturing company. They purchased a house in Marlborough, Connecticut, where they did various remodeling and continuous landscaping efforts. Patti was a repair engineer who developed and qualified the repairs for complex components and assemblies for the various Pratt & Whitney turbine engines, including the F135, which powers the F35 fighter aircraft. She also worked in product quality and most recently Patti was a technology manager for international export control and trade compliance group at Pratt & Whitney. She led training efforts to ensure engineers understood government export control regulations and internal processes and procedures. She also supported export control violation investigations and corrective actions. In addition to her very technical engineering background and career, she enjoyed cooking, home decorating and traveling to see history and nature. She took pride and huge joy in her family and nephew and great nephews. Patti was a very driven person who never stood still and embraced continuous improvement and growth. She as an avid reader and would study nearly anything and everything that she and David were doing or were contemplating.
She is survived by her husband David, her mother Mary, her brother Michael Waldschmidt and sister-in-law Cynthia, and her nephew Matthew Waldschmidt and his wife Jocy and their sons Marvin and Gael. Patti was preceded in death by her father, Marvin Waldschmidt.
A Celebration of Life Gathering will be held Friday, September 18th, 2026, from 11 AM until 1 PM at the Holly Funeral Home in Waupaca. Interment will follow at Lakeside Memorial Park in Waupaca.
