1 September 2024

Becky's mom, Patricia, died on August 25, 2024 due to metastatic cancer. She was 81 years old. This is a photo from grade school.

This is her high school graduation photo from 1961.

And this is a photo of her as a young adult. Patricia experienced declining health in the years before her death, but her decline accelerated after her diagnosis of cancer. She was cared for by hospice for only 10 days before her death.

We traveled to Idaho for Patricia's funeral, stopping in Salt Lake to pick up Helen. Our family planned a simple graveside service. This is a photo of Helen, Heidi and Barbara rehearsing music on Friday night.

Saturday was a clear, sunny day. The funeral was held at Restlawn Cemetery in Pocatello. From the left are Joe L., Sarah, Larry, Becky and Annette.

Abe, Gibson and Helen pitched in to help with whatever was needed to set up for the funeral/

Zina and baby Waylon came with Sarah and Joe H..

We imagined there would only be a few people in attendance, mostly family, but  quite a few friends showed up from Patricia's ward and neighborhood. Remarkably, six of the "Hill Boys" Joe grew up and maintains friendships with came to pay their respects. From the left are Kevin, Brandon, Joe L., Ryan. Rick, Shane and Rob.

This is a photo of the pall bearers. In front are Jerry, Joe L., Brandan and Gibson. Joe H., Sy, Sawyer and Abe are on the other side of the casket. The white haired man behind the casket is the funeral director. Larry is on the other side of the pall bearers, walking alongside the casket.

From the left are Heidi, Barbara and Helen, singing and playing "In the Garden," one of Patricia's favorite songs. Bishop Scow, who conducted the funeral, is standing behind Helen. We read a short piece Patricia wrote in 2018 about the lessons she has learned in life. Joe L. dedicated the grave.

Most people stayed to watch the casket be lowered into the ground. Some of us stayed until the grave was completely filled in with dirt. Helen found the process very satisfying to watch.

The cemetery will lay sod over the grave later this week. This is the way the grave looked when we left it.

The Gwen Ward Relief Society served lunch. Barbar's husband, Timothy cooked roast beef and rolls as the main course.

Patricia's favorite cousin, Lila, traveled from Utah for the funeral. Her younger sister, Alene, is married to Patricia's step-brother, Lynn. For the left are Lila, Lynn and Alene.

This is a photo of Larry and Patricia's children and grandchildren who attended the funeral.

After lunch, a large group of us attended a session together at the Pocatello temple. This is a photo of Nate, Sofi, Gibson and Abe outside the temple.

Gibson kept Waylon and Zina company while we were in the temple.

Sofi and Nate drove to Pocatello from Wenatchee on Friday night and unfortunately hit a deer. The deer scamepered off, leaving their bumper and headlight in disarray.

After the temple, the Larsens and Hatches met at Sofi and Nate's hotel to see if they could patch the car enough that it could safely make the 9 hour drive home. The hotel room had a great view of the parking lot and the large group of repairers.

Another group was inside, staying cool and enjoying more time with Waylon.

Here's a photo of the patched up car, the bumper reattached with duct tape and zip ties.

Confident we had helped Sofi and Nate as much as we could, we headed to Utah. Our first stop was to drop Abe off in Provo. He's living in a house this year with his 5 friends from Oregon. Abe gets his own room this year.

The house has iconic pink doors.

We dropped Helen off at her dorm in Salt Lake and then crashed for a few hours at Dan and Martha's. Finding a couple of Abe's belongings in our car gave us a good excuse to see Helen one more time Sunday morning before driving home to Oregon.

It was a tough weekend, but also beautiful and sweet, filled with lots of family time and good memories of Becky's beloved mother.