Patricia Adien Dykstra

Services will take place at 11 a.m. Tuesday at Callahan-Edfast Mortuary.

She was a school teacher.

Survivors include her husband, Thomas D.; one son, Brian S. Woodard of Denmark; one daughter, Jodi P. Woodard of Grand Junction; one brother, Michael D. Lowe of Everett, Washington; two sisters, Wanda L. O’Toole of Lincoln, Nebraska, and Nancy L. Lowe of Pueblo West; and two grandchildren.

Memorial contributions to HopeWest, 3090B N. 12th St., Grand Junction 81506.

Patricia Dykstra

April 17, 1947 - May 8, 2017

Frequently, Patty would stop grown strangers on the street to ask, ""Didn't I have you in kindergarten?""

And, more often than not, the puzzled stranger would quickly break into a smile of recognition. The bear hug that followed was just like the one they'd gotten every morning, many years earlier, from their kindergarten teacher.

Patty Dykstra, loving mother, dedicated wife, and proud teacher, passed away peacefully at her home on May 8, after a longer battle with pulmonary disease. During her 20 years as a District 51 teacher - most of them spent in the little kindergarten cottage building behind Lincoln Orchard Mesa Elementary - she helped over 1,000 Grand Valley students get off to a good start in their education.

Patty was born in Boulder, the second of three children, to Walter S. Lowe and Mary Louise (Lewis). Shortly after her birth, her father, a WWII vet and a mortician, moved the family to the San Luis Valley where he opened the Lowe Funeral Home. Tragedy struck in 1951 when Patty, then just four years old, lost her mother suddenly to polio. Her father later married nurse Luella Girard, who adopted Patty, her older brother Mike, and younger sister Wanda. Another half-sister, Nancy, was born in 1961.

Patty graduated from Alamosa High School in 1964 and went on to Adams State College that same year. At the end of 1966, during her junior year, she had her first date with A.C. ""Woody"" Woodward. That date would lead to marriage and six years, a split, and a reunion later, to her first child, Brian, who was born after two days of intense labor in 1973 in Durango. The following year she gave birth to a daughter, Jodi.

The family moved to Grand Junction from Durango in 1979 with her husband's work as a railroad conductor. Patty began teaching at Lincoln O.M. and through the 1980's was a fixture as a team mom, board member, and cowbell-ringing fan at among other things: Grand Mesa Youth Soccer, Packers Pee-Wee football games, dance recitals, Orchard Mesa Little League tournaments, and Colorado West BMX races. Patty divorced in 1987 and, two years later, met Tom Dykstra.

She was particularly proud of completing her master's degree in Early Childhood Education in 1991. In 1996 she and Tom married in a small ceremony at the home of Tom's parents, ""Dyke and Diddie"", who'd become a close second family to her. Tom and Patty remained married for the next 21 years.

Patty was the eternal optimist, who sought the lighter side and inspired others to do the same. She pulled for the Broncos on Sundays, even through the lean years. She loved teddy bears, and collected them in every size and material. She also loved to chat, telling stories and talking with friends - sometimes for hours. Her long, perfectly lacquered fingernails and love of jewelry were testament to her feminine side, as was her love of being a mother. Patty was a film and TV series buff, with a weak spot, too, for game show staples like The Price is Right and Family Feud. Above all, she cherished time spent with family, her pets, and her students.

Patty is survived by her husband, Tom, and their beloved cat, Mabel; daughter, Jodi Woodward of Grand Junction; son, Brian, and grandchildren, Lukas and Helena Woodward of Aarhus, Denmark; brother, Mike (Linda) Lowe of Everett, WA; sisters, Wanda (Mike) O'Toole of Lincoln, NE, and Nancy of Pueblo; step-children, Jeff (Molly) Dykstra and their children, Mackenzie, Clara, and Bennett of Edina, MN; and step-children, Leslie (Jeff) Fox and their children, Emily and Sydney of Golden.

A memorial service will be held on Tuesday, May 16, at 11:00 a.m. at Callahan-Edfast Mortuary. A private inurnment will follow.

The family extends a special thanks to the tireless caregivers who looked after Patty in recent months, including Sue Anne Williams, Jean Enderud, Cyndi Suter, Susan Prescott, Dorothy Stevenson, the caregivers at Hospice HopeWest—especially Rana, Terry, and Kelsie—and Janet Walker and Teri Newbury of Nightingale's HomeCare.

In lieu of flowers, Patty asked that friends either bring a new teddy bear to the service that can be given to a child in need through the Western Slope Center for Abused Children and Catholic Outreach or that friends make a donation to HopeWest Hospice.