Patsy Swayze, the mother of late actor Patrick Sayze, has died at the old age of 86. Patsy, who was a choreographer and dance instructor (apparently the talent got passed on), died Monday night at her home in Simi Valley. Publicist Annett Wolf released a statement with the tragic news to CBS. The exact cause of death was not announced, however according to the Houston Chronicle, Swayze suffered a stroke on September 8. This has been linked as the probable cause.

Swayze, born in 1927, managed to build a career spanning decades and taught some of the most renowned dancers of the 20th century, including Debbie Allen and Tommy Tune. She also taught at the University of Houston for more than a decade as well as choreographing for the Houston Playhouse Center and the Houston Youth Symphony and Ballet Company.

She was the mother of five children, three boys and four girls, with Dirty Dancing's Patrick Swayze being the eldest. Younger brother Don Swayze also later went into acting.

She had a special place in her heart for Simi Valley. The choreographer especially liked the rural setting, as she expressed in a previous interview. "It was rural, like Texas, and the three children still living at home could have horses and dogs," Swayze said of her new home in a 1991 interview with the Los Angeles Times. She moved there in 1980 after choreographing the movie Urban Cowboy. Swayze’s death comes just four years after her son Patrick passed away from pancreatic cancer in 2009.

Patrick Swayze, Planet Hollywood
Patrick Swayze, who passed away four years prior, apparently inherited his mother's talents.