Patricia 'Pat' Tate

PATRICIA "PAT" JANE TATE

Tipton

Patricia "Pat" Jane Tate, 95, of Tipton, passed away Monday, April 2, 2018, in Cedar Manor, Tipton. Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Friday, April 6, at First United Methodist Church, Tipton. The Rev. Jenny Seylar will officiate. Burial will follow in the Red Oak Cemetery, Stanwood. Visitation will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday, April 5, at Fry Funeral Home, Tipton.

A memorial fund will be established for the United Methodist Church in Tipton. Online condolences may be shared at www.fryfuneralhome.com.

Patricia Jane Canfield was born Aug. 25, 1922, at her maternal grandmother's home in Polk City, Iowa. Her parents were George Martin Canfield and Nona Thankful Van Dorn. She attended elementary school in Polk City and graduated from Sheldahl High School in Sheldahl, Iowa, in 1939. Patricia, her mother and sister Grace had moved to Sheldahl so Nona could operate the switchboard for the Sheldahl Telephone Co. Patricia also worked the switchboard after school and on weekends.

After high school, Patricia went to Des Moines, where she worked doing housework for families and taking care of their children. When World War II broke out, Patricia took a job at the ordinance plant in Ankeny. Her job was to inspect the .50 and .30 caliber bullets before being sent to the military.

When the war was over, Patricia went to work at Northwestern Bell Telephone Co. in Des Moines. She married William Deane Tate on May 18, 1947, in Sheldahl. They moved to Sioux Falls, S.D. Bill worked for the Oliver Farm Equipment Co. Their first child, Marsha Elaine, was born there in 1949. Oliver transferred Bill to Council Bluffs, Iowa, and then Denison, Iowa, where their son, William Dennis, was born in 1951.

Oliver transferred the family to Des Moines, Charles City, then back to Des Moines, where their youngest daughter, Judy Lee, was born in 1961. Six months later, Oliver transferred them to Tipton, which is where Patricia would live the rest of her life.

Over her life, Patricia has belonged to Heart Mothers, PEO, various church circles and United Methodist Women. For her children, she participated in Tipton Music Auxillary, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, 4-H and Ikabana.

Her family includes her daughter, Marsha; her son, Bill, and wife, Marcy; and her daughter, Judy McVay, and husband, Steve. Patricia had four grandchildren, William Dawson Tate, Jenny Marie Moore, Nicholas Michael McVay and Justin Lee McVay. She also had two great-grandchildren, Maya and Jasper Neymeyer.

Gone before her were her parents, her husband and her sister, Grace Gibbons.

Pat is survived by daughters, Marsha Tate of Muscatine and Judy (Steve) McVay of Center Point; her son, Bill (Marcy) Tate of Lisbon; four grandchildren, William Dawson Tate of Cedar Rapids, Jenny Moore of Marion, Nicholas (Raegan) McVay and Justin McVay of Center Point; great grandchildren, Maya and Jasper Neymeyer; and sister, Dorothy Daugherty of Ralston, Neb.

She was preceded in death by her parents, husband, and sister, Grace Gibbons.