Patty L. Pyatt

Patty Pyatt was a woman of true character with a love for teaching and learning, a love only exceeded by the passion she held for her family and friends that she held so dear to her heart. Holton is a quiet farming community in Muskegon County, Michigan, where Patty Lou Pyatt was born on October 31, 1931. Patty grew up in a fairly large family; she was the fifth of seven children with four brothers and two sisters. She and her sisters were born within four years of each other and they remained close throughout their lives. Being the youngest of the girls, however, Patty pretty much got all her sisters' hand-me-downs from school clothes to prom dresses, which Patty wasn't always too thrilled about. While her mother stayed home to care for the family, her father worked for many years at Sealed Power. When Patty was about eleven, tragedy struck the family when their house burned down. The entire town rallied around the family and helped get them back on their feet again. They didn't rebuild the house on the farm, but rather found a home closer to town. The family were lifelong members of the Holton United Methodist Church. Along with her siblings, Patty attended the area school, and often joked that she walked to school "uphill both ways." It was at a New Year's Eve dance in 1946 that Patty met, kissed, and fell in love with the man of her dreams, Ted Pyatt. The two became inseparable after this, and shortly after graduating high school, Ted and Patty were married on June 30, 1950, at Holton UMC. The newlyweds settled into married life together in Twin Lake, where they always had family nearby, literally. There were four houses right by each other, where Ted and Patty, Ted's parents, and Ted's aunts and uncles all lived; they called it "Pyatt's Corner." Ted and Patty's home started small, with only one room and an outhouse. Later, as they saved money, another room would be added on. Ten months after marrying, Ted and Patty welcomed the birth of their first child, son Ted Jr., in April of 1951. A few years later, they added another son to the family, with the arrival of Tom in September of 1953. And to round the family out at five, the couple delighted in the birth of their daughter, Shelley, in October of 1961. While Ted earned a living as a Plant Engineer at Westran, Patty went to beauty school with her sister, Mary. The sisters would practice their newfound skills on each other, and the family still jokes about the crazy hairdos they came up with. Eventually, Ted built a room on to the house that Patty used as her beauty shop. The shop later moved to a building next door, but it continued to be the social gathering place for everyone, and the best place to find out the latest gossip around town. After her daughter Shelley was in school, Patty decided to pursue her ambition of being a teacher. She began attending Muskegon Community College full-time, but completed her degree at Western Michigan University, where she would later earn her Master's Degree. Patty really wanted an education and these degrees are a tribute to her spirit. Her first day at MCC, she came home in tears because they had mentioned a term paper -- and she didn't know what that was! Her commute to Western was also arduous, traveling two nights a week, through rain, snow, sleet and hail, and she often wondered if she'd make it home again. Upon graduating, Patty began teaching straight away at Montague's Nellie B. Chisolm Middle School as a science teacher. This was quite funny to the family because Patty was not much of a science person. In the end, she became a remedial reading teacher, which was her passion all along. A zealous reader, Patty read six books a week, and literally wore out a number of library cards. Her mission as a teacher was to pass this love onto all the students she taught. When Patty first started college, Ted built their first home on Twin Lake. Five years later, he built their second, even larger home, and four years after that, Ted built a house for his parents behind their home. With family as the cornerstone of their lives, it was only natural that their home was a hub of activity, and a warm, comfortable gathering place for all their family and friends. It wasn't a bit unusual for them to go through three large cans of coffee a week. A big part of Patty's social life also included being part of the "Club." This was a group of six women who were good friends from their school days at Holton Elementary. They started meeting for lunch together in 1950, and over the years others joined their circle of friends, and some times they even brought their husbands to the luncheons. Patty and the other five ladies who started the group were as close as sisters and they shared both much heartache and many delights together over the years. In 1985, Ted retired because of health problems. Patty followed suit in 1996, and they bought a place, sight unseen in Florida, where they wintered until 2001. In June of 1997, Patty suffered a stroke, which kept her in ICU for a week, and in rehabilitation for seven weeks. Although she wasn't able to do a lot of things by herself, like drive, cook or keep house, she kept a positive spirit and enjoyed every day she was given. During this time, Ted was her constant caregiver, though his health had gotten worse and he was on oxygen all the time. With both of them not in good health, Patty and Ted moved from their big house to a double-wide still on their property. Then in September of 2003, Patty lost her beloved husband Ted, after 53 years of marriage. Thankfully, her son Ted lived next door and he helped care for her until she moved in with her daughter, Shelley. Here, Patty put up with the relentless teasing of her grandsons, which just tickled her pink. In January of 2005, Patty went into assisted living for a year, but then went back to live in her house with full-time care. Tragically, and reminiscent of her childhood, Patty's house burned down and she literally lost everything, except the clothes on her back and her car. But, if you asked Patty how she was holding up, she'd say, "I'm still here. It's just stuff." After this, she went back to assisted living, where she broke her hip about a month ago. Some time after this, Patty told her daughter Shelley that she was ready to die, but moreover she said "I can't wait to see your Dad again." Patty died peacefully in her sleep in the early morning of Thursday, April 26, 2007. She will be dearly missed, yet frequently remembered by all who knew and loved her.