Mrs. Patricia Guynine Ruth Best Lundblad

Patricia Ruth Lundblad was born in Brawley, California on February 22, 1920. She passed away on Feb 4, 2010, just 18 days before her 90th .She was the only child of Harry and Margaret Best from Oklahoma. When Pat was born, her parents owned a small diner in Brawley, California. They moved to Clovis, near Fresno, California in the early 1930s where the family again had a small diner. In the mid 30s they moved to Gardena, California where she attended Gardena High School. In the late 30s, the family moved near Death Valley, California, where they opened another small diner. Pat worked as a waitress there. It was in this diner that she met her future husband, Jerry, who was working as an accountant at a mining company nearby. From 1941-1950, Pat moved back to Gardena with her parents. During that time, she worked as a waitress in Mannings Cafeteria in Long Beach. Jerry joined the Military in 1941. Pat and Jerry were married in Florence, North Carolina on June 25, 1943. After their marriage, Jerry served in Europe from 1943 to 1945. In 1950, they bought their first and only house on Cranbrook Avenue in Torrance. Pat worked at home, raising two sons, Steven born in 1950, and David born in 1955. When Steven was young, Pat drove him weekly to visit local aquarium shops. It was a weekly Tuesday adventure for them both.In 1975 Jerry and Pat opened Crenshaw Aquarium in Gardena, which they sold in 1980. In 1977 they traveled to Hong Kong for the wedding of Steven and Helen. From 1980-1983 they were briefly in the exotic bird importing business together with Steve.On May 25, 1984, they had their first and only grandchild, “Gigi” Nicole Lundblad. This new addition to the family brought much joy to their lives. Gigi gave Pat the nickname “Guynine”. To this day, Pat is often affectionately called by this nickname. On March 14, 1986, Pat lost her husband, Jerry, and on Sept 2, 1991, she lost her younger son, David.Pat “Guynine” loved to eat and travel, making several family trips to Asia, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, India and Sri Lanka. She also loved the cruises to Alaska and the Baltics.Pat continued to live on Cranbrook in Torrance until 2003, when she moved to Huntington Retirement Hotel in Torrance. She had a nice room (#101) near the front entrance. One of her happiest times there was eating. A few friends from church brought her different varieties of food which she really enjoyed. These friends also shared about Christ with her.In 2008, Pat became more frail. However, she was blessed to have Virginia, who became her companion and care giver. Virginia loved her and she loved Virginia. This wonderful, caring relationship made a big difference in the last years of her life.By God's grace, after the sea burial of both Helen's parents' ashes, Steve was able to return to Los Angeles from Hong Kong and spend the last three weeks of Pat's life with her. The Lord also provided for Helen and Gigi to spend time with Pat during the last week of her life.What everyone remembers most about Pat is that she never complained about anything, she wasalways cheerful and upbeat… and she loved to eat any food that was given to her.