Patricia Ann Cahan

If you knew Patricia Ann Munson Osborne Cahan, you knew someone who dreamed big and lived large. Pat was, and had been many things in her 85 years, primarily a wife, a mom, a daughter, a sister, because family was always first. An entrepreneur, a little bit of a pirate, but with generous tendencies, she had been an antique dealer, owned restaurants, a furniture store, RV parks and a hunting/fishing lodge. There are many descriptors one could use to describe Pat, but none of them were dull. She left us on December 5, 2025, passing peacefully in her own bed beside her devoted husband, Neil Cahan.

Born July 14, 1940 in Oregon City, Oregon to Mildred Ethel Kelly Munson, and Marshall M. (Joe) Munson, Patricia was the third of 5 children. Pat grew up along the Oregon coast, Cannon Beach, Seaside and settled in DeLake while in her early teens. Her parents had divorced and Pat went to work at a young age to help her mother support the family. After her mother remarried, Pat met and married Gary Osborne, while still in her mid-teens. Gary was in the Air Force, and for the next several years they lived in Oklahoma, Texas and Washington building their family of 3 children, Nona, Gary Alan, and Lois. Gary got out of the Air Force, and the family returned to the Lincoln City area. Pat worked a variety of waitress and bar tending jobs before trying their luck on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. The family was there about a year before returning to Lincoln City, eventually moving to Oakridge, Oregon.

Over the years, Pat honed her buying and selling skills, purchasing goods from yard sales and estate sales, cleaning them up and reselling them. As their children grew up and moved from home, Pat and Gary decided to follow their dream of Alaskan adventure and moved to Anchorage. They managed a couple of fly-in fishing lodges before opening the Hungry Bear Inn. Throughout their moves, they always encouraged family members to join them. Pat’s sister, Linda and her husband, Sparky, were often nearby and working with Pat and Gary on whatever venture was at hand. Nona, and her husband, David, also moved to Alaska. Lois was living and working in Alaska, as was Gary Alan, who was, sadly, killed in a work accident in 1980. The late 1980s brought Pat and Gary back to the lower 48, to be near family, and to be in a more moderate weather, working for a while as pilot car driver. Patricia cared for Gary as his health declined. Gary passed in 2013. The following year, her loneliness and heartbreak turned to joy when she met and married Neil Cahan. She often commented how she couldn’t believe she had been blessed twice with great love.

Pat continued with her buying and selling as she and Neil scouted the estate sales for good deals. She also liked to gamble occasionally, and as a couple, they felt a strong call to serve the unhoused community with food, making thousands of sandwiches and uncountable big pans of mac and cheese or beans. In their estate sale ventures, they would buy blankets and coats and toys to hand out to folks less fortunate financially.

In January 2023, Pat suffered a stroke. She spent over 2 months in the hospital. She returned home and Neil cared for her there, often with the help of his daughters, Nadine and Beverly. Nona traveled from northern Idaho several times over the first few months, and Lois was there nearly daily. Pat received some therapy, regaining some mobility before her health declined. Pat is preceded in death by her siblings, Michael Osborne, Louise Larfield, Barbara Theiss, as well as her son, Gary Alan Osborne, and her first husband, Gary W. Osborne. She survives by her husband, Neil Cahan, her sister, Linda Theiss, her daughters, Nona Davis and Lois Osborne and with five grandchildren, as well as Neil’s daughters, Nadine, Beverly, Denise and Regina and with 12 grandchildren and 21 great grandchildren.