Patricia Whitney born 1932 April 1 (Boulder City, Nevada); died 2026 October 18 (Bellingham, Washington).

Patricia Ann Whitney (née Rants) —hereinafter referred to as Pat, although referred to as das Mütterlein by one or more of her sons —was born on 1932 April 1 to Roland Elwood (“ Woody ”) Rants and Helen Fern Rants in Boulder City, Nevada, then a newly created federal “company town”, built to house the thousands of workers employed in the construction of Boulder Dam ( later rechristened Hoover Dam, by which name it is known today). One of these many workers was Pat’s father, Woody. Times were hard and work was scarce, for this was in the depths of the Great Depression, from the effects of which the country was reeling; a most popular song of the year of Pat’s birth was the anthem, “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? ”.

Pat’s siblings were two: John Wallace (“ Wally ”) Rants, born before Pat; and Roland (“ Ron”) Rants, born after Pat . Well before the close of the 1930’s, the three of them accompanied their mother and father in relocating from Nevada to Washington—Woody wanted to increase the distance between himself (along with his wife and children) and his mother-in-law, resident in southern California. He figured that northwest Washington was probably far enough away, and found his way with his family to a site on East Kelly Road in rural western Whatcom County, where the family settled.

It was from the familial homestead there on the Kelly Road that, for eleven years, Pat went off daily to attend schools in the Mount Baker School District. Pat attended Harmony Elementary School for six years, and then the junior-senior high school in Deming, Washington for five years. At this point, Pat had completed her year as a high school junior. But then there was a twist: her parents, along with her younger brother, Ron, moved from Whatcom County to Seattle. Pat, however, remained resident in the Mount Baker School District, for nearby neighbors on the Kelly Road, the Gallmans, had graciously consented to take Pat—she and Marlene Gallman were schoolmates —in as a houseguest so that she might complete her schooling at the close-knit school in Deming where she had completed grades 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11. And so Pat’s year as a high school senior was her twelfth year as a student in the Mount Baker School district. She graduated from Mount Baker Junior-Senior High School in 1950 June.

There was a non-trivial lagniappe to Pat’s year as houseguest of the Gallmans. For Marlene Gallman had a cousin, a swain by the name of Dale Ames Whitney. He and Pat hit it off during her interval as Gallmans’ houseguest, and the month after Pat’s graduation from high school, Dale and Pat married. At their wedding, Marlene Gallman served as maid of honor; and although Pat’s elder brother Wally could not attend the event (he was serving in active duty aboard the carrier USS Princeton, which would presently be involved in the Korean War, which had started in the very month of Pat’s graduation), her younger brother, Ron, could—indeed, he participated in it, serving as Dale’s best man.

Pat and Dale had three children, all born in the 1950’s: first a daughter, Lori Ann Whitney; then a son, Blair Arlo Whitney; and, finally, a second son, Brett Alton Whitney; all three were born and bred in Bellingham, Washington. Being a homemaker and rearing her brood kept Pat busy during most of the 1950’s, throughout the 1960’s, and well into the 1970’s. One thing about her homemaking ( besides her expertise as a seamstress) that her sons will remember as long as they live was her blackberry pie —it was ambrosial.

There were two things for which Pat had a pronounced fondness: chocolate and dogs. With respect to chocolate, Pat always preferred milk to dark. As for dogs—well, dogs generally liked her, and she generally liked dogs (at least, quadrupedal dogs); at most stages of her life as an adult, Pat had a beloved canine pet.

After her offspring got old enough to not murder one another (accidentally, that is), Pat undertook to work outside the home. Pat had already been working Decembers at the post office in Bellingham as seasonal help hired to handle the crush of yuletidal mail. ( Those were the days when nearly everyone mailed out Christmas cards —lots of them). She took up clerical work year-round, working for the Bellingham Golf and Country Club, then for Northern Communications (in downtown Bellingham), and, finally, for Western Washington University.

When their working days were over, Pat and Dale traveled extensively around North America in their recreational vehicle, venturing both into Mexico and into Canada, sometimes absenting themselves from Bellingham for months on end (especially the months of winter). They truly enjoyed their life on the road.

In the mid -1970’s, Pat and Dale moved from Bellingham proper out to the eastern shore of Lake Samish, to a house in which they had, since the 1960’s, been passing the summers. Their place at Lake Samish was the locus of many a familial or congregational gathering, especially in summer. The only thing that kept this paradisiacal place from being a consummate paradise was the presence of some incogitant neighbors. But good things come to those who wait: for the last eight years or so of Pat’s residence at Lake Samish, she had the great good fortune of having Candace Wittenberg (with whom she enjoyed conversing about the neighborhood and the lake) and Joel Arnold as her neighbors at Lake Samish, neighbors whom she cherished.

She cherished (most of ) her kin, too, both those living and those dead. Among those who predeceased Pat are her parents, Woody and Fern Rants; her husband, Dale; her elder brother, Wally; her sister-in-law Rozanne Rants (wife of her younger brother, Ron); and her daughter, Lori. Among those who survive Pat are her younger brother, Ron; her sister-in-law Sarajane Rants (wife of her elder brother, Wally); her elder son, Blair; her younger son, Brett; her son-in-law, Jerry Packebush, husband of her daughter, Lori; her niece Maryjane and her husband, Mike; her niece Deanna; her nephew John; her nephew Patrick and his wife, Helen; her niece Erin; and her nephew Tim.

After Pat had attained to the status of nonagenarian, she moved regretfully from her homestead at Lake Samish; she moved to Orchard Park, a house of assisted living in Bellingham. There she passed the last few years of her life, and there, while on hospice care, she died of natural causes on the Lord’s Day. [ Pat’s sons hereby express their heartfelt appreciation to both the staff of Orchard Park and the staff of Whatcom Hospice for looking after their mother in her final years and in her very last days, respectively.] Pat steadfastly professed a belief in a Christian God, and did her utmost to live out her creed (imperfectly, to be sure); for approximately forty years she was a member of First Christian Church of Bellingham. And it is there (at 495 East Bakerview Road in Bellingham) that an informal memorial service will take place on 2026 October 25 (Sunday), at the conclusion of the usual Sunday service, which starts at 11:0 o’clock. All who have any interest in attending this event are invited to do so.

“ Well done, my good and faithful servant.”