Last Name Index
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Alma Rock Pattee Avoca, Iowa Brick Section B - Row 17
Grandma Pattee; if only you could still be here for me to talk to. Did you know that I was really angry with you when you died just as I was really getting to know you? I had just started to be able to talk to you like an adult. I even went out of my way sometimes to see you first before even going home on breaks from ISU. I had such a hard time dealing with your death until I found a quote that helped me: "It's not the ones who throw roses on your grave who realize your life didn't die ... it's the one with whom you rode the roller coaster, the one you made love with, the children who learned from you to laugh exactly the way you do. They are what your life meant." I have had that quote beside your picture these last twenty years since you've been gone. I look at your picture often and still talk to you. I know your life didn't die. What a special person you were. One of the oldest daughters of a huge farm family and then the wife of another farmer and mother of seven, you knew hard work all your life. I never knew you not to smile, though (except that one time when we stopped to take you on vacation with us and the alarm clock had not gone off--when I woke you it was the only time I ever knew you to swear!). And, like any good grandmother, you always had cookies and always a place to stay. A country school teacher, you were part of my inspiration for my life's work. I think you would be proud, Grandma, of all your grandkids We are a great group. If only I could have known you longer, my life would have been even richer. 6/94
Narrative Updated: 5/18/1994
Honored By:	Barb & Les Licklider