Lela Mae Patterson

Funeral services are1:00pm, Friday, May 24, 2013 at Baldwin-Lee Funeral Home in Pearl with interment in Floral Hills Memory Gardens. The family will receive friends one hour prior to services.

Rev. David Bodenheimer will officiate. Pallbearers are Stanley Hadden II, Russell Smith, Allen Kurr, Mark Smith, Todd Patterson and Doug Smith.

She was devoted to her family her entire life. When she was only 12, her mother died and she became mother to her 6 brothers and sisters. She assumed the duties of cooking, cleaning and sewing for them, making the patterns herself. She did this with joy and they affectionately nicknamed her Mawski.

She was married to James Roy Patterson until his death in 2002. Their marriage spanned 73 years. Due to the nature of his job in the oil fields, they moved frequently, living in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and Louisiana before settling in Jackson Mississippi to be near family. She made every house she lived in a home by being a thrifty and immaculate housekeeper and a master of pretty flowers and garden vegetables. If flowers were blooming in her yard, there was always a ‘bouquet’ of mixed flowers somewhere in her house.

She was a member of All Saints Episcopal Church and Alta Woods Baptist Church where she adored her Sunday School Class.

She loved working the daily crossword puzzle and was an avid reader of non-fiction books. Her favorites were history books, especially ancient history.

She was happiest when her home was filled with loved ones. Many fond memories were made sitting around her huge dining table filled with home cooked meals. She leaves behind many who love her and will never forget the love she gave and the influence of her sweet loving spirit.

In addition to her husband, she was preceded in death by her son, Joe Allen Patterson.

Survivors include son, Thomas Franklin Patterson; daughter-in-law, Joy Patterson; grandchildren, Kay Olliver (John), Karen Kurr (Jeff) and Lydia Patterson Pruitt; great-grandchildren, Jamie Smith (Julia), Adam Smith (DeeDee), Russell Smith (Lyndsey), Allen Kurr and Annaleigh Kurr; and great-great-grandchildren, Eden Smith and Gavin Smith.