Karon Lynn Lasater Patty

Karon Patty passed away on Wednesday November 13th, 2013 at Medical Center Hospital in Odessa. She was born in Roswell, NM on May 15th, 1943 to Ada Pauline Cowan Sparkman, who passed away when she was very young. Karon was loved and raised by Ira & Virgie Lasater. She married Fred Patty on February 23rd, 1973 in Brownwood, TX.

She was a teacher and was probably destined to be one since she came from an educators’ background. Her parents, Ira & Virgie Lasater instilled the importance of education by their example. She graduated from Brownwood High School in 1961 with a Math Honor Award. In 1964, she graduated from Howard Payne University Magna Cum Laude with a BA in Math. While in college, mom continued to develop her love for kids by earning money babysitting. In September 1964 she attended UT Austin on a National Science Foundation Scholarship.

She was introduced to west Texas when she moved to Odessa in 1966 to begin a math teaching career at Odessa High School. She taught at OHS from 1966-1980 and 1985 until her retirement in 2000 from ECISD. She also spent 3 years at Nimitz Junior High from 1982-1985. Upon her retirement, she continued her teaching on a part-time basis at Odessa College.

She left a ripple effect through the years from her teaching career. It was rare to ever go anywhere and not meet one of her former students that simply new her as Mrs. Patty. Even in the last few weeks of her life she was making new friends at Medical Center and leaving a positive wake for others to admire. She was even planning on doing some free tutoring , when she left the hospital, to help some of the nursing students.

Her move to west Texas also led to her being introduced to her husband Fred and they made Odessa home their entire married life. Mom loved her family & friends and knew how important it was to not take a single day for granted. She loved cooking for others and shared many a cake or casserole with her doctors and friends. You didn’t want to miss one of her sweets!

Karon Patty will be missed upon this earth. We were very blessed by her 70 years of making a difference and are very grateful to those at Medical Center that helped to make her life as comfortable as possible these last few weeks. She is now home with her husband and there is no more sorrow and no more pain and she can “dance with pigs in the sunshine”!

Karon Patty was preceded in death by her husband, Fred Willard Patty. She is survived by her son, Sean Patty and wife Darla of Midland along with two grandchildren, Sam & Zach Patty also of Midland. She is survived by three sisters, Kathy Bettis of Flower Mound, TX, Rita Lasater of Arlington, TX and Ruth Wheelis of Brownwood, TX.

Funeral Services for Karon Lynn Patty, 70, of Odessa will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Friday November 15th, 2013 at Sherwood Church of Christ with Lynn Money & Mark Wilson officiating. Visitation will be held at Hubbard Kelly Funeral home from 6-8 p.m. on Thursday evening, November 14th. A private family burial will be held at a later date.