Patricia Dexter

In memory of Ellen Patricia Egan Dexter, by granddaughter Alyssa Dexter, age 20

Grandma Dexter, otherwise known as Pat, went back to heaven at the age of 84. It was Sunday June 19th, 2016, she was living at Morning Star senior living, she went for a walk, and later we found her sweater by the big canal. That's the last we knew of her.  Later they found her and confirmed she was back with God. But we don't focus on things like that, because that was only 10 minutes of an entire 84 years. She did a lot in those 84 years. She started out in Oak Park Illinois on December 11th of 1931. Her dad Joseph was her childhood hero. I remember once she told us how she cut her arm on a metal can as a little girl.  The cut was pretty bad, and he ran with her in his arms all the way to the hospital. He saved her life that day. A bit after high school, in 1951 in Chicago, she married Carl Koty.  She was only 19 years old. They pieced together a wedding. I think she borrowed a dress from her cousin. They made it work. They had two babies, first came Carla, then John.  Little Carla didn't do so well in the humidity, with her asthma & allergies that demanded a dry climate.  So Patricia got on a train and took her babies to Arizona. Carl did not come with her. It was hard for her, being a single mom, but she made it work.  Later, she met my Grandpa, Ralph Dexter, and they had my Dad, David.  Many people thought his dad was his grandpa, they had him when they were a bit older. My latest memory of my Grandma is that she was an author. She wrote inspirational books to bring people to God. She shared stories about her past in hopes of helping other people with what she has learned. I imagine she'll always be a good story teller. I bet she's telling stories right now. Speaking of stories, when we were kids, she would sit us on her lap and read to us. My favorite was "The Three Little Pigs". I bet she got so sick of that book, but still, she read it to me. She was always doing things for us, her family. She had the kids over for sleepovers, took us to the zoo, and dinosaur museums.  She took us swimming and let us walk her dog with her. She put movies on for us and took us to the thrift store. She would let us pick something out and buy it for us. Then we'd go back home and she'd make us dinner. She always spent a lot of time with each of her grandchildren, Michelle, Jacob, Brianna, Charis, Brian, Grant & I (Alyssa :). She always showed each of us that we were important to her. And she is important to us, which is why we're writing this story and why we're sharing her life with you. Because it's worth being shared, She went through a lot in her life. She stayed really strong through it all. She found God when she was young, when she felt so alone, and she kept him close her whole life. We always knew she loved him and believed in him. She talked about him like he was an old friend. That's because he is her friend, and now they're together. And we'll be together again with her and with God, soon enough. In the meantime, we can follow her example by serving others and trusting God.

Memorial services will be 10:30 a.m. Saturday, June 25, 2016 at the Shelley 5th Ward Chapel, 513 South Park Avenue. Arrangements are under the direction of Nalder Funeral Home in Shelley. Services will be held in Mesa, Arizona at a later date.