Beloved wife, mother, sister, sister in-law, cousin, aunt, godmother and grandmother Patricia Ruth Sheehy Mings ("sassy Patsy") of Bellevue WA died on December 12, 2024 (the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe), after a long and courageous battle with Alzheimer's Dementia (AD). Pat was 88 years old.
Pat was born on All Saints Day November 1936, in Chicago IL. She was the only child of Raymond K. Sheehy, a Chicago fireman, and Vera Ells, an AT&T switchboard operator. The couple later divorced. While Pat was raised primarily by her mother Vera, her grandmother Alexandra Basetich, and her Aunt Dolly Basetich, she remained part of both her parents' large extended families and maintained life-long closeness with all 5 siblings from her parents' subsequent marriages.
Patricia graduated from Thornton Fractional North High School in Calumet City, IL., during which she was selected for summer internships at the Chicago Art Institute. Her creative passions were lifelong, gifting family and friends with watercolor and oil paintings, hand-painted birdhouses and baths, and various seasonal decorations. Mom was also a published poet.
Upon graduation, she worked for Great Northern Railroad and then Standard Oil, where she met and married a handsome young chemical engineer, Walter Mings. They soon moved west to Idaho Falls where they raised their 3 children (Susan, Sandra, and Steven). They enjoyed the "golden years" of retirement in the family home they had built until 2016 when failing health necessitated a move to care.
Mom was an unparalleled homemaker and the bedrock of our close family. She and Dad provided a warm loving home for the 3 "Mings kids." They instilled a sense of adventure with yearly family vacations exploring North America on planes, trains, automobiles, and The Greyhound Bus! They were our best support and biggest fans in every undertaking.
Mom's nickname was "The Energizer Bunny" because she never sat still! She was renowned for home cooking, sewing, arts-and-crafts; hospitality; and devotion to her church and community. Home-sewn Halloween costumes (once highlighted in the local newspaper!) for kids and grandkids included Yogi and Boo-boo bear, Barney and a 9-foot-long dragon. Mom's annual Christmas Eve Open House was legendary, always drawing more than 100 guests between church services. Mom's door was always open to family and friends, and random relatives who'd arrive unannounced late at night! Mom's grandchildren were among her greatest joys. She loved holidays and adventures with the grandkids to places as far-flung as Wyoming, Montana, Seattle, Hawaii and Vermont.
Mom was a Renaissance woman. She was active in her Catholic faith and the two Catholic parishes in town as a leader in the Holy Rosary Altar Society and Women's Cursillo, a lay reader and lector, and a Youth Catechism teacher. Later in life, she was a mentor in the Episcopal church's Education for Ministry program including a summer at Oxford University. With St. Vincent de Paul's charities, she cooked and served meals to the unhomed and marginalized. After over a decade of corralling sizable donations from local retailers for the annual Women's Job-Finding Fair at Eastern Idaho College, she received a service award from the college.
Mom rejoined the workforce after her kids were grown, first as a secretary for Holy Rosary Catholic elementary school; and later, for religious writer and speaker Anne Kiemel Anderson. She managed scheduling, bookkeeping, and travel arrangements for Ms. Kiemel-Anderson. In addition, Mom drafted responses to Anne's voluminous correspondence, which Anne would later review and sign. (What wisdom we imagine mom shared with Anne's correspondents!)
Even in her final decade, as Alzheimer's progressively diminished her capacities, Mom never lost her essential self. Her defining characteristics remained apparent to the end, including strong faith, love of family, artistic creativity, commitment to service, and quick wit. As Mom rested comfortably in hospice care her last few days at Patriot's Glen, her room saw a parade of residents, Continuum hospice, and facility staff coming to chat with Mom one more time. We spent time recounting Mom's stories and jokes, her ready smile and quick laugh, and her care for and appreciation of everyone she met. To a person, each visitor expressed admiration and enjoyment of "Miss Pat," the "Queen of Patriot's Glen."
Pat is survived by her children Susan (Phileo McAlexander), Sandra (James Lamar) and Steven, daughter-in-law Michelle; grandchildren Justin (Kelly), Morgan, and Carley Mings, and Sophie, Brian, and Sabrina Lamar; brothers Rick (Eva) and Ken Rahn; niece and nephew Marty (Liz) and Rachel Rahn; and devoted friend and caretaker Norma Thompson. She was predeceased by her father, Raymond K. Sheehy; mother, Vera Elizabeth Ells; brother David Rahn; sisters Carol Sheehy and Sharon Gorman; grandmother Sanda ("Nonni") Basetich; and Aunt Dolly Basetich.
The family thanks all those who so lovingly cared for Pat these last 9 years of life, including the medical and memory care staff at Willow Park Assisted Living in Boise ID; the administrative, nursing, and activities staff at Patriot's Glen in Bellevue WA; the medical, spiritual, and social services staff at Continuum Hospice of Lynwood Wa; and the medical staff at Novari Primary Care, especially Dr. Alissa Bieber.
In lieu of flowers, please make a donation in Pat Mings' name to the Alzheimer's Association, St. Vincent de Paul of Idaho Falls ID, the College of Eastern Idaho, or a charity of your choice.