Mom, Grandma, Pat, Lucille, Mom in law, wife, Great Grandma, Friend
Whatever you call her, or know her as, she is AWESOME.
We, as the Ward family, are so blessed to have Pat as our matriarch and example.
Pat was born of goodly parents, Nellie Mariah and William Alexander Ward. Nellie had been married before and her 1st husband Jasper Conrad died when Nellie was pregnant with her 3rd child. Pat's half siblings, Naomi, Wayne and JC come from this side. Her father had also been married before and had one daughter Camille. Pat was the only child between her parents, as Nellie was 42 when Pat was born March 28, 1933.
Pat has been a woman of faith and testimony since she was a young child. Her parents were inactive when she was young and Pat chose to attend church. She wanted the church in her life even at that early age. She had two LDS girlfriends that were her friends growing up and even roommates at BYU.
Pat's life has always been full of music. In high school, she participated in many competitions, playing the bassoon and saxophone. She was so good and so needed in the symphony that when she broke her arm in high school, they set her arm in a position so she could still play the bassoon for an upcoming competition. She had only one bad experience performing in high school, when she was performing for a mutual talent event. She got flustered and forgot all the music and had to stop and start a few times before she got the piece done.
She attended a BYU music event her senior year and was 1st chair for the bassoon in the symphony. She went on to attend BYU Provo, Majoring in Music for one year. She was in the BYU symphony and studied under Dr. Boss, a music professor. Pat was able to participate in an elite symphony that presented “La Boheme”. Ezra would come watch her in the rehearsals, so much that he had all the Italian parts memorized.
As you all know, she married Ezra and went on the spend the next many, many years, supporting him and raising a family, as well as serving in the church and continuing to develop her love with music. Pat plays the organ and piano and has played for everything possible over the years. She plays the organ now for church on Sundays.
Raising such a large family was time consuming, chaotic and full of great times. Pat wouldn't lay claim to a favorite child... sorry! She loves how each child has been unique and brought a special spirit into the family. Many years of snow skiing, water skiing and camping, created many fun family memories. Often, Pat and Rick would gather all the camping gear together and get all the kids ready, and when Ezra came home Friday night they would take off camping, just to return Saturday evening. It was a lot of work but always fun.
Pat loved a family reunion at Priest Lake where we sat on a rock with a fire at night and shared memories of the family and growing up. Her family and her church service are the highlights of her life.
Pat has been working at the Family History Center, the Temple, doing indexing and playing the organ. She is still a busy woman! Her two missions, to Baltimore Maryland and Zimbabwe Africa, were difficult, challenging and hard on her health. Yet she wouldn't trade them for anything and is grateful for the growth, the experience, and the testimony building that has come from those missions.
While Pat misses and loves Ezra, she is happily married to Gaylon Jorgensen since Oct 2, 2009. Pat has seen and experienced many hard things in her life, but finds pleasure in seeing her children and grandchildren and great children grow up to be so self reliant and interesting. It has been hard to no longer be the “needed mom” but she is pleased that her children are mature, self-sustaining, and doing so well. Her next adventure and highlight coming up in her life is going on a cruise with Gaylon, her 8 children and their spouses.
Pat, we love you and are so grateful for all the love and support you give each one of us-You are the best!
