Patricia Etoile Lane

Patricia was born on November 10, 1932 in Noxapater, Mississippi and passed peacefully in her sleep on December 31, 2023 at her home in Phoenix, Arizona of natural causes. She was the eighth of eleven children born to Floye Guinn and Marion Briley White. Growing up on a farm in rural Mississippi during the depression, she learned hard work at a tender age. Picking cotton, milking cows, gathering eggs and working in the field before and after school was a way of life. Despite the hard work, she always spoke of her upbringing on the farm with fondness. When she and her siblings would unite for any occasion, they laughed and relished their time together. They loved to tease one another, and her older brother nicknamed her “Lady Bug” when she was a little girl. It stuck, and her twenty nieces and nephews grew up calling her Aunt Bug.

She graduated from Noxapater High School in 1950, with the honor of Salutatorian. Patricia was a football cheerleader, played on the basketball team and served on the high school yearbook committee. She was voted “Most Popular” by her senior class.

Immediately after graduating high school, Patricia moved to Cleveland, Ohio where she met her husband, Richard Lane. They were married on October 17, 1950 for 68 years until his death on November 13, 2018. They called Cleveland home until 2017, when they moved to Phoenix, Arizona full-time. For many years, they spent the winter months in West Palm Beach, Florida and then Phoenix, Arizona.

Patricia is survived by her sister, Faye Pace; and her children, Richard H. Lane, Jr.; April Lane (Rick Chase); and Tracey Lane (Lance Gray). She is survived by her grandchildren, Eric Lane (son Mason) and her step-grandchildren, Aleisa Chase; Richard Chase (Holly); and Sommer (Mike) Delacruz; and seven great-grandchildren, (Mason, Kaelin, Gavin, Tyson, Allie, Maddon, and Cadence). She is pre-deceased by her husband Richard Lane (2018), her daughter-in-law Karen Lane (2018), and her granddaughter Yvette Lane (2021).

She had a competitive spirit and athletic ability that served her well on the golf course and tennis court, where she won club championships and took first place in many tournaments. Patricia was a game enthusiast and played pinochle, bridge and dominoes for most of her life. She loved the slot machines! Patricia was an avid gardener and excellent cook who enjoyed entertaining in her home.

Patricia and Richard travelled the world and saw much of Europe, Scandinavia, Greece, Turkey, Hawaii, Mexico, Canada, the Caribbean and Morocco.

A memorial bench was installed in her memory at Mt. Carmel cemetery in her hometown of Noxapater, Mississippi at the foot of her parents’ grave.