Patricia L Treadwell

Mom loved spending time with her family. In the summer, we lived on the island at Pushaw. We played on the swing set, made "mud soup" in the makeshift outside kitchen, and played in the lake for hours. She skied with the Old Town Water Ski Club — Mom would climb the pyramid and Dad would barefoot ski. They practiced a lot, and we traveled on weekends to different places to put on shows. In the winter, we went snowmobiling and ice fishing.

When Missy started kindergarten, we moved to Clinton. Mom worked a few different jobs over the years, but the most memorable was when she bought the car wash in Waterville. Missy and I worked for her on weekends — and I’ll never forget how cold it was! We had to warm our feet in a bucket just to stay warm. We were never so happy as the day she sold it.

Mom loved Halloween, Christmas, and kids. She dressed up every year, and decorated inside and out for Halloween. She couldn’t wait for the trick-or-treaters. All the kids in the neighborhood — and the surrounding area — called her Grammy Patty, and they looked forward to coming to her house every Halloween.Christmas was just as special. She loved to decorate, but her real passion was shopping for gifts — especially for her grandchildren and for children in need. I believe it was her own childhood that made her so passionate about giving back.

Mom spent many years as a homemaker in Clinton, and she was a stickler for a clean home — especially our bedrooms! Some of you may even remember her white glove test, and the consequences of failing said test. One thing though she couldn’t do was cook. If Mom made dinner, you could almost count on it being burnt. Her explanation? “I like it that way!” That’s why Dad always did the cooking in our house. Our home was always filled with friends and cousins for sleepovers and pool parties.

She also had a taste for adventure. It started in Fayetteville, NC with base jumping — with me strapped to her at just 2 years old in 1971. Later, she went whitewater rafting with Dad, myself, Ron, and her grandsons Bobby and Devan at age 64. She went skydiving with her nephew Troy at 66. And at 73, after her granddaughter Nevaeh pierced her nose — Mom did too... and dyed her hair purple.

She loved to travel. She went to Quebec, Canada to watch Setha, Bobby, and Devan compete in the Quebec Karate Open. She took trips to Salem, NH during Haunted Happenings in October, a couple trips to Florida with Setha and Nevaeh, and several trips to the Dominican Republic with grandkids, family, and friends. These were some of her most cherished memories.

As many of you know — Mom had another great passion in life: Shopping.

If you’ve ever seen her house, her bedroom, or her closets — you know.

She loved to shop for everything — primitives, kitchen gadgets, tools for Dad, clothes, makeup, Victoria’s Secret, PINK, and especially beautiful jewelry. She liked to be stylish and “cool,” but I’m still not sure how much Victoria Secrets Perfume, Bath & Body Works Spray, and clothing one woman needs!

But she was generous — she shopped not just for herself, but for her grandkids and friends. Her friend Sue recently shared with me: “A lot of times when your mom went shopping for herself, whatever she bought for her, she would buy for me too.”

When Mom stopped driving, she didn’t know how to use a computer, her shopping moved to catalogs. So today, we’re burying her with some of her favorite catalogs — and dads credit card. Shhh 😊

Happy shopping, Mom.

In the last few years, Dad taught Mom a little about football. She became a huge NFL fan. She loved Tom Brady, and after he retired, she became a Patrick Mahomes fan. She looked forward to Sundays, wearing her Kansas City Chiefs or Mahomes sweatshirts and cheering them on.

Hopefully, she’s still cheering them on from up there.

Go Chiefs!

Mom was blessed with over 52 years with my Dad, 2 children, 4 grandchildren, 3 step-grandchildren, and 7 great-grandchildren.

________________________________________

To My Mom:

As I stand here today, I think of all the things you gave me through the years —

your love, your support, your time, your sacrifices, your guidance, your wisdom…

And most of all, your heart.

Even when things weren’t easy, you showed up.

You taught me how to separate laundry, get stains out, and always iron my clothes, Necessary lessons that I passed on to my boys.

You taught me to be strong, independent, stubborn — to stand up for myself (sometimes a little too much).

I love you, Mom.

________________________________________

If you knew her as Mom, Grammy Patty, Aunt Patty, Patty, Lady Swamp Swivel, or simply as a friend, then you know these things:

• She may have had silver in her hair, but she had gold in her heart.

• She was kind, generous, and donated to many in need.

• She was a very proud grandmother.

• She had a fiery spirit — full of spunk, sass, and stubbornness to the very end.

• She loved to sleep all day and stay up all night.

• She LOVED a good Pat’s Pizza.

• And she was always late — if you wanted her on time, you had to tell her an hour early.

Mom touched each of our lives in different ways.

Perhaps we can find some comfort in this poem by Constance Jenkins:

Weep Not For Me

Weep not for me though I have gone

Into that gentle night

Grieve if you will, but not for long

Upon my soul’s sweet flight

I am at peace, my soul’s at rest

There is no need for tears

For with your love I was so blessed

For all those many years

There is no pain, I suffer not

The fear is now all gone

Put now these things out of your thoughts

In your memory I live on

Remember not my fight for breath

Remember not the strife

Please do not dwell upon my death

But celebrate my life

________________________________________