Opal Toney Patterson

Mrs. Opal Toney Patterson died Sunday October 30, 2011 at the Medical Center of Central Georgia in Macon. She had survived Jack O'Neal Patterson, Sr., to whom she was wed on January 18, 1946 and with whom she had enjoyed a wonderful marriage for sixty one years.

Mrs. Patterson was born August 3, 1927 in Heard County Georgia, near Franklin, daughter of late Samuel Jackson Toney and Hettie Rogenia Jackson, and she attended Franklin High School. Mrs. Patterson was a retired federal employee who served for almost thirty years at Warner Robins Air Force Base, Warner Robins, Georgia. She began as a clerk-stenographer and retired as Program Controller in the Directorate of Material Management's Resources Division. In 1986, Mrs. Patterson received the organizations prestigious “Pride In Excellence” award which recognized her commitment to excellence and pride in doing her best in every job opportunity.

Her survivors include two sons, Jack O'Neal Patterson, Jr. of Macon and Ralph Alan Patterson of Oxnard, California; a daughter, Jacqueline Patterson Thompson of Knoxville, Tennessee; five grandchildren, five great grandchildren, many nieces and nephews, and friends.

Funeral services will be held 2 p.m. Wednesday, November 2, 2011 at Striffler-Hamby Mortuary, LaGrange Chapel with Rev. Jerry Eley officiating. Burial will follow in Hillview East Cemetery.

The family will receive friends at the funeral home tonight (Tuesday) from 6 to 7:30 p.m.

Flowers will be accepted or those desiring may contribute to either the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital (www.StJude.org) or the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (www.billygraham.org) in memory of Opal Toney Patterson.

Arrangements are by Striffler-Hamby Mortuary, 1010 Mooty Bridge Road, LaGrange. (706) 884-8636. www.shlagrange.com

Eulogy by Ralph Alan Patterson read by Reverend Jerry Eley

Opal Jenette Toney Patterson was a loving wife and mother. She provided for her family with love, financial support, and never tired when meals had to be prepared, shirts had to be ironed, and cleaning. When it came to her family's needs, she had superhuman stamina.

Opal was very kind and considerate to all and would never do anything to hurt anyone's feelings. But if she felt slighted, this 5' 3” small frame woman could make the largest man feel about 2” tall!

Opal had a remarkably meticulous and organized mind. This is evident on first sight of any of her documents and correspondences. Most were annotated, highlighted, and underlined, and further had sticky notes and clipped on notes detailing the conversations and her thoughts and conclusions about them. This served her well in her career, as well as when family and friends needed dinners, trips, or anything planned.

Opal's greatest joy and love was her dear husband Jack. When she lost him in 2007, she placed a heart on his flowers at the graveside where she had written the words to their favorite song on a red heart. Since that day, she has placed hundreds of laminated red hearts on the flower arrangements by Jack's side, with her deepest thoughts, feelings, and love that she wanted to share with him.

Opal was truly a beautiful woman. Jack used to call her “a true southern beauty of the old southern South”, wagging his head side to side for emphasis. In fact, Jack declared her “the most beautiful woman in the world” in a “Document of Fact” that he composed in his own handwriting. (Reverend Eley, Please read the transcription below in its entirety and show the document)

"DOCUMENT OF FACT

FOR CENTURIES THERE HAS BEEN A LIVELY DEBATE OVER WHO WAS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WOMAN IN THE WORLD. THERE HAVE BEEN MANY THOUGHT TO BE THE MOST BEAUTIFUL INCLUDING HELEN OF TROY, BATHSHEBA, THE QUEEN OF SHEBA, THE MONA LISA, AND VENUS DE MILO.

AS THE YEARS AND CENTURIES PASSED BY, MORE BEAUTIES SHOWED UP. THESE INCLUDED JEAN HARLOW, CLAUDETTE COLBERT, GREER GARSON, MAUREEN O'HARA, JANET LEIGH, ELIZABETH TAYLOR, BO DEREK, AND MARILYN MONROE.

EVEN WITH THIS LIST OF CANDIDATES, IT WAS ONLY IN THE MID 1940'S DID THE WINNING BEAUTY STEP FORWARD.

OUT OF HEARD COUNTY GEORGIA, A BEAUTIFUL YOUNG COUNTRY GIRL, OPAL TONEY, STEPPED FORWARD TO CLAIM THE TITLE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WOMAN EVER IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD AND SHE STILL IS.

I KNOW ALL OF THIS IS TRUE BECAUSE SHE HAS BEEN MY WIFE FOR 56 YEARS AND I LOVE HER VERY MUCH.

DOCUMENTED BY

JACK PATTERSON, SR.

(THE WORLD'S #1 HUSBAND)

P.S SHE IS SHY ABOUT ACCEPTING THIS HONOR."

Opal was a devout Christian. A strong believer in Christ, she believed all of the Bible and believed that Jesus made a place for Opal and Jack in Heaven, and that He was the way, the truth, and the life.

In loving memory of my mother,

Ralph Alan Patterson

"Notes On My Mother's Life - A Life Of Family and Faith" by Jacqueline Patterson Thompson, read by same.

In remembering my mother I remember three women, all of them my mother Opal Jenette Patterson but at three different ages. Young Mother. Mother middle age. Mother as a senior citizen.

Young Mother

My first memories of my mother Opal Jenette Toney are of a beautiful young woman in her twenties. She stood at the sink wearing a blue pinstriped apron tied around her waist that had large pockets on it. She was washing dishes again and I was playing at her feet. My brothers no doubt were somewhere playing cowboys and Indians so I had her all to myself. That seemed important at the time...she was tall and beautiful. Okay, maybe she wasn't so tall but to a little thing crawling about on the floor she was tall. And whether you think she was tall or no, you have to admit, she was beautiful and so hard working...

Maybe a year or so later I remember my mother being gone most evenings. I missed her terribly. She was working the night shift at a factory or something. But one magical night she came home early and suddenly we were going to see a drive-in movie at night and for us three kids, in our jammies and with our blankets and pillows! What fun! I remember how she and Dad sat in the front seat, and how there was a movie speaker perched on the edge of the window on the drivers side of the car. I remember the sounds of the Tom and Jerry cartoon and the laughter among our family and from the families in their cars around us. I remember how the light from the movie screen shown on our faces. And we were all together having fun and were so safe...

I remember other things too of my mother when she was young. How she gave me my bath, washed my hair, cooked our meals, put up jams and made cakes. She washed our clothes in an old ringer washer down in the dirt basement and then hung them on a clothes line outside to dry. She was always working hard at something, trying to help my Dad make his way in the world for they and us kids. While she worked she talked, smiled and sometimes scolded. One night I couldn't sleep because of an incessant cough. She administered a spoon of sugar soaked with whiskey kept for medicinal purposes. You know what? It worked! I went to sleep right away and got better too...

Mother Middle-Age

Later I remember my mother more mature. She had bettered herself and had an important job at Warner Robins Air Force Base. She was still pretty. So much so that "Perdy" was the nickname given her by my Dad. He called her Perdy all the rest of his life. He loved her so.

By her middle age I was old enough to notice my mom and dad never seemed to fight. The most course thing I ever heard my dad say to her was "HON-EYBABE!". That was when he was most frustrated usually because my mom failed to dote on him quite enough or failed to given him enough to eat : ) My mother and my dad loved each other. Truly they did. I guess their example of a loving relationship is among their greatest gifts to their children. That and my mother's faith in Jesus were their greatest gifts.

My mom was still hard working in those middle-aged years. Strong and determined, she was off to work first thing in the morning and home well after us kids, now teenagers who had returned from school hours before. She went straight to her room, changed her clothes and came into the kitchen where she whipped up a delicious meal. I took that for granted when I was that age. But now having raised my own family, I know what a monumental task it was to feed a family of six dinner day after day.

Perhaps the most wonderful thing my mother did for us kids when she was middle aged was she allowed us to choose our own way and supported our choices. Jack chose the guitar. Have you ever heard him play? Beautiful music filled our home in those days--wafting along the air with the aromas of chicken, potatoes, beef or fish frying in bacon grease. Yum! All without guilt of course. We didn't know about cholesterol in those days - Now wasn't that heaven?

Ralph was also a gifted guitarist and sang too, but mother and the rest of us knew his greatest love was science. Need I say my mother and dad sacrificed as they sent him to Georgia Tech to realize his dream? And for me as well they sacrificed much as I sought my passion--horses--the mainstay of my existence in those days...

Mother As A Senior Citizen

The third phase of my mother I am thinking of today is of her sacrifice as a senior citizen as she cared for my Dad as his health declined with diabetes and other ailments. I saw little, but heard much as she spoke of going to what seemed to me many years and a long series of doctors, and then my father's eventual passing.

From the day that my dad passed my mother never forgot him. She was an exceptionally faithful wife setting an example of love for her husband though he was beyond the grave. As the years passed my mother even seemed to mark time by dates she associated with Dad's death. The day he went into the hospital for the last time, the day of this trial or that associated with his death, and of course the anniversary of the day he actually died.

Recently mother spoke to me about seeing the faces of loved ones that were desceased. She said that they looked as they did when they were young. I said, "Mom you are scaring me. That is what people say just before they pass." She laughed and said she was healthy and not to worry. Together she and I joked about how the doctors could never find anything wrong with her though they tried time and again, testing her in every conceivable way.

During another recent conversation Mother asked me, "Do you know what tomorrow is?" I told her: "Mom I don't even know what day of the week it is much less the date." I could hear her disappointment through the phone so I continued, "From the tone of your voice, it must be the anniversary of the day Dad died." She said that it was. I told her "Mom, it has been years since he passed and you still remember the dates of all the tragic events leading to his death? That doesn't seem healthy." She choked up and said meekly "I don't want to forget. When you love someone the way I love your dad and the way he loves me, you don't want to forget. And I never will." That was one of the last times I spoke to my mother. Maybe even the last.

My mother was faithful to my father because she loved him so much. For me that is a lot of comfort. I know she prepared herself very carefully to rejoin him beyond the grave. She prepared her will and gave away personal items to family members in advance of her parting. It seemed to me in a way Mom wanted to stay here with us especially with her son Jack, Jr. But that she also looked forward to passing on beyond this world and had faith that when that happen it would be into the arms of Jesus and her beloved husband Jack.

There is a Bible verse that says, "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths." (Proverbs 3:: 5-7 King James Version) Mothers path has led her home. Home to God. Home to her husband Jack. One day we will join her. Until that time, though I will miss her, I rejoice in her joy - the joy I know she has with Jesus, with my Dad and with her family on the other side.

Jacque

Opal Patterson Eulogy by Jack O’Neal Patterson, Jr., read by Reverend Jerry Eley

Mother was who made our home a home. Without her, it will not ever be the same place, although she, just like my Dad, will be there in spirit through God’s presence. She was always somewhere in the house doing something or taking a nap in her recliner. I look at those hands and remember the many things they did for us.

We did many things together, such as running errands, going to doctors or to LaGrange or Lanett. We had Thanksgiving dinner, Christmas, Easter and many other occasions together. We had many plans for this fall season which will never happen now.

But I know where she is - in heaven with my Dad, where she longed to be. She wanted to stay here also to be with us. I know because she said so plus the fact that she had so many doctors! She was in such good overall health that it is hard to imagine this being anything but God’s will to take her on home. Just think of all the others she is with now, especially my Dad. She was having a hard time with Aunt Ruth’s loss and is now with her again.

She and I are both strong Bible believing Christians. So was my Dad. She was a Christian all her life, and I have been for 34 years. We talked about it all the time. She is now with her Savior. Whenever she talked about Jesus she would tear up.

She was good in every way, was kind and would never hurt anybody. She was the last of the Toney original aunts and uncles and I don’t know what us cousins will do now.

She wanted to be buried in the clothes she had on in her and Dad’s 50th anniversary portrait. Also, she wanted her wedding band and 50th ring on. Our friend Scott Galyon helped us find a casket and flowers that matched these clothes perfectly. I think God was in on that too.

Well I could go on and on but I know time is limited. I’m sitting here in the middle bedroom of Uncle Roy and Aunt Pauline’s house in Lanett, AL writing some appropriate remarks for her at the last minute. These are all I’ll say now.

Things will never be the same but I know that I’ll be there in heaven too before all that long. May her kind soul rest in peace.

I love you Mother.

Jack Patterson, Jr.

“Neal”

11:35 am [Nov. 2, 2011]

Mrs. Opal Patterson's Favorite Scriptures

Psalm 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

Psalm 53:1 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good.

Psalm 55:22 Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.

Psalm 56:13 For thou hast delivered my soul from death: wilt not thou deliver my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living.

Psalm 119:105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

Psalm:117 Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe; and I will have respect unto thy statutes continually.

Psalm 119:125 I am thy servant: give me understanding, that I may know thy testimonies.

Luke 12:12 For the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say.

Psalm 19:14 Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.

Matthew 6:10 Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

Psalm 119:142 Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth.

Psalm 127:1 Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.

James 4:17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

Romans 8:38-39 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels , nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

2 Timothy 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.

Hebrews 11:6 But without faith, it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

1 John 5:10-13 He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. And this is the record that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.