Patty From The Bakery

By Nick Chiocco

Patty From the Bakery Video
From being mentioned in a rap freestyle by Timeflies describing all things Stonehill 2 years ago, to being included in a Stonehill student’s graduation speech this past year, the friendly face behind Stonehill’s Bakery, Patty Chiocca, has left an impression on Stonehill students that is hard to forget.

Being described by students as “very easy to talk to,” “always smiling,” and “very personable”, the woman behind the Bakery at the Roche Dining Commons is seen by most students as somewhat of a celebrity on campus.

Married with 2 children; a son, 39, and a daughter, 42, Chiocca, of Raynham, just recently turned 66, “double six,” as she said.

Chiocca likes to think that she is helpful and kind to the students, which all the students know she greatly exceeds.

“I love it. I love interacting with the kids and I love helping people…someone called me an angel the other day,” Chiocca said.

The interaction between students and Patty is a common thing, as students always have specific memories of exactly why they enjoy seeing her on a daily basis.

Anthony Donato, a senior, remembers Patty coming up to him and his friend while they were fooling around and fake wrestling in the café. Chiocca jokingly exclaimed, “Do I need to separate you two?” making Donato and his friend crack up laughing.

Nick Wisialko, also a senior, mentioned that Chiocca once joked with him saying that she was in at 4:30 in the morning to start baking everything, playing it off, as most Stonehill students believe that she makes everything in the bakery.

For many students like Donato and Wisialko, it usually starts as a general transaction, and in Patty’s sociable nature, she begins to ask about school and make a conversation. From there, it turns into a daily “Hi,” and eventually turns into being on a first-name basis.

That’s just the kind of person Chiocca wants to be.

“I enjoy what I do and how I do it,” Chiocca said.

Prior to working at Stonehill, Chiocca was an executive secretary at the Vadala Management Corporation. There, she worked for her boss, an entrepreneur, who managed 15 different businesses and even helped manage a semi-pro football team and a minor-league baseball team that were both based out of Taunton.

After her boss died in July of 1988, she worked for one of his companies, Middleboro Fire Apparatus, refurbishing fire trucks with new parts, which she said was one of most enjoyable experiences.

In 2004, she began working for Sodexo at Stonehill.

Working at the school for the past 11 years, Chiocca was not always known as Patty from the Bakery.

Before, she was a cashier, but became drawn to the position of Bakery Tech because of the increased amount of interaction with the kids.

Patty the Cashier just doesn’t sound the same.

 Working for the bakery, Chiocca said she has a sweet tooth when it comes to Chocolate Bundt Cake with chocolate ganache.

“I’m happy they don’t make more of it because I would eat it all the time,” Chiocca said with laughter.

Every student may have their favorite bakery item, but when it comes to the best thing at the bakery, Stonehill students would be foolish not to choose Patty Chiocca.