A graveside funeral service for Patta Blake, age 84, of Brownwood, will be held at 11:00 AM, Saturday, May 25, 2024, in the Coleman City Cemetery under the direction of Heartland Funeral Home. The family will receive friends at the funeral home on Friday evening from 5:30 until 7:00.
It is with deep sorrow that we announce the passing of Patta Blake on May 19, 2024. Born on June 7, 1939, in Brownwood Texas, Patta lived a life full of warmth, kindness, care, humility, intelligence, humor, and thoughtfulness. Her beautiful soul touched every person she met, and her memory will forever be engraved in our hearts.
Patta Jean Young, Born June 7th 1939 in Brownwood, Texas hospital to Virgil and Doris Young. They later moved to Bangs, Texas. A few years later she was blessed with her younger sister Sandra Young.
She attended high school in Japan as one of the first wave of American families to reside in occupied Japan after World War II. Tells of the long ship ride over as her mother stayed sea-sick throughout the entire trip while trying to watch over an over-active tween and her sister. Tells that when they arrived in Japan, that while the staff was showing them around their quarters, her mom became concerned about the bedroom and asked, where is the bed? Instead, they pointed her to the rice mats hanging on the wall. Over time they were later given beds.
Patta graduated high school in Kaiserslautern Germany, she loved it as she lived apart from her parents during the school week residing in a dormitory during that period. Unfortunately for her, her father was in charge of the school cafeteria duty at the school so he could at least be close and keep an eye on her.
In 1955, Patta met a guy in San Fransisco that caught her fancy. His name was Emmett (Gene) Blake. She and her girlfriend Trixey had noticed his TEXAS license plate on his car and just wanted to see where he was from. Well, she found out where he was from and where he was going the rest of his life. Patta went on first date with Emmett and took her friend along in case he might be trouble. During their cruising date, Patta stated they she needed to go see “John” (bathroom call in those days) Gene was silently furious about taking this girl to see some guy (I would be also), they came to a building that would have a bathroom and Patta said “Right Here”, dad stopped, let the girls out… then spun out leaving the girls in the dust. Fortunately, he saw in his mirror the two of them waving him back (not knowing why he’d left to start with). Well, that was the start of a beautiful relationship.
Its wasn’t until many years later, while comparing birth certificates, that Patta and Emmett realized they only lived a few blocks apart from each other in Brownwood Texas at the time of mom’s birth, they had never known that.
While they were dating, Gene received orders to Hanau Germany and had to leave Patta back in California where her father was stationed at the time. So, it wasn’t too long before Patta’s family received orders to Kaiserslautern Germany, where Gene swears she was chasing him around the world to get him, because he was such a great catch.
Later, they finally married on Jun 8th 1957, a day after her 18th birthday in Kaiserslautern Germany. Dad said he was running out of places to hide from her. Gene almost missed the wedding as he was grounded to the barracks for a fight he had gotten into, because, as he told us “my lack of vocabulary “said a guy called him a name and he couldn’t think of anything to call him back, so he hit the man and knocked him across the pool table. But Patta’s dad helped, pulled a few strings, made some calls, and got him released just in time for his wedding. He made it just in time to be snatched up by that woman chasing him all over the world.
At a recent Memorial Day speech by congressman Jodey Arrington, He stated that for every soldier, sailor, airman or marine there was a very important family supporting them while serving. I have not met anyone that this applies to more than Patta Blake. She was the Rock on the Homefront for four generations of military family from her father, husband, son and grandsons. Her devotional support to the military was through making sure there was always someone looking after us, including grandsons, back at home. As a child, her father was serving in World War II, she, at a very young age understood the dangers and possibilities of losing her dad in combat. As there were so many losses in your local area that you would hear of someone losing a soldier in the war, not knowing if you were the next to get the knock at the door and Officer and Chaplain would be standing there. Being moral support for her mother during the more dreadful periods. Then, during a battle at Solerno, Italy, her father was seriously wounded by a grenade attack and lay bleeding on the battle field with another soldier for a night and through the next day. The men both seriously wounded, took turns loosening and tightening each other’s tourniquets until they were finally attended to by medics. That night while it was happening, her mom couldn’t sleep and told Patta that something was wrong but didn’t know what it was. Later to find out she had good reason to be worried.
Now then Patta had married Emmett Blake who was also a soldier in the Army, then proceeded to support his service after the Korean Conflict as she again found herself facing the effects of war on a veteran of war. She caringly and patiently supported her father and boyfriend /husband as they both dealt with PTSD which most soldiers came back with. A very difficult and unacknowledged disorder at that time, adding to the silent terror these men experienced post war. Patta helped bridge that transition back to” Normalcy”.
My personal first-hand experience was her sacrifice for family and country came in 1997′ while stationed at Whiteman AFB Missouri as a single parent with my two teenage sons Bobby and Gary. I was told that I was needed for temporary duty in Saudi Arabia for 4 months. Not sure how I was going to pull this one off which would have been career ending if I didn’t go. I didn’t want to call Mom and Dad as I knew they were both working hard to make a living. But I made the call, as I explained what was happening and what my situation was, I realized just how much I was asking of them. I heard mom echoing the conversation to Dad across the table. She sounded as always, patient and supportive and asked if they could discuss it and get back to me on that. Well, I can’t explain how great that made me feel just to have them even considering this great disruption in their lives so unexpectedly. We ended the call and I began heading to the shower to get ready for work that day. 15 minutes had passed, and the phone rang, much to my surprise, it was mom’s cheery voice and the first thing out of her mouth was “When do you need me there”? I said I’m leaving in 3 weeks. She said I’ll see you in just 2 and a half weeks, fill me in on the details about the boys, school, sports, girlfriends etc… Wow! here they were forfeiting 4 months income from mom’s Real Estate profession, Dad taking on the home front with his Real Estate job and picking up all the duties mom performed at their household and helping care for his father-in-law who had early dementia and needed a lot of attention. They made that decision in 15 minutes. I can’t even pick a shirt in 15 minutes. When I had returned from the tour, Mom had not only performed as a mom, Father, Grandmother and Daughter flawlessly but also managed to save money from my checks while paying my bills and grocery shopping, while also taking care of the teenage boys (not easy at those ages) and Virgil had to be transferred to her from Brownwood as he needed continual attention and dad was working a lot of hours. I can’t list all of the challenges they faced during that period alone. Just AWESOME is all I can say, Thank You so much for that very critical support.
She then proceeded to support her Grandson Gary serving in the Army while his family was stationed in Germany and he was serving 1 of 3 tours in Afghanistan in the infantry and then as a sniper. She flew to Germany aiding Garys wife for a while in adjusting to that lifestyle and circumstance with 3 children in a foreign country. Mom had the experience and knowledge to make life a little more comfortable during stressful times.
Also Supported Bobby during his tour in Oman as an Airman firefighter. She would send all of us packages of homemade cookies, local newspapers, pictures and letters. Never let us feel forgotten. All the while not receiving any compensation, any recognition of awards or medals and no glory. That to me is true self-sacrifice. And needs to be recognized for the absolute necessity that it was for us to do what we did. Without her contributions, I could not have completed my service. An over 60 combined years of service accredited to Patta Blake for support of her military family. Mom, we couldn’t have done it without you. Thank You!
Aside from her military service, she was also an awesome Mom, Grandmother, Great granddaughter, Aunt, Niece and Daughter, Granddaughter and Friend. First and foremost, she cared for her mom and dad until their deaths in the late 90’s and early 2000’s, requiring a great amount of patience, love and caring during a 10-year period between both of their illnesses and passing. She was always there for them even when they didn’t need immediate attention. She displayed respect and love for them throughout their lifetimes. After her mom had passed from Alzheimer’s, that very cruel and dreadful disease that robs us of our loved one’s personality. And as her dad was passing, her lifelong love and soulmate Emmett became terminally ill with cancer and so continued the caregiver role for the toughest battle yet to watch the love of life slowly fade until his passing within a short period of time after her dad. All of this while taking care of her own health dealing with Multiple Sclerosis since the age of 40. Now I know some of you may have experienced similar situations and can understand the painstaking trauma that this can cause to one’s mental and spiritual well-being. What I can only imagine felt like the worst 10 years of her life, But Patta never wavered in your strength and her belief in our Lord. She never openly displayed self-pity or questioned what’s it all for and why me. She always persevered and kept a beautiful and humbled attitude in the face of great pain and tragedy. There is not a Hollywood actress or a female politician, or any woman in history that I admire more, or look up to more than my mother, Patta Jean Blake. To a life well lived!!! Cheers mom, your family and everyone who met you admired and loved you.
During my high school years in Abilene Texas, she went back to school and obtained her Associates degree as a Real Estate Broker……. and made better grades than me. But I told her it was because I also had to chase girls…. She was married already. She had worked as an accounts receivable employee at Sears and Robuck in her early years. She was a business owner and managed 4 offices of Continental Personnel Services in Houston Texas while dad was working 60-70 hours a week as a successful Finance and Insurance man at a large Auto Dealership near NASA. They Successfully sold those businesses to protect us boys from going astray in the big city (good move), and brought us to Coleman Texas. Mom took on the role of Store manager for Bills Dollar store. Again, business owner for a used car lot for several years. Business owner/operator of A-Z Rental Abilene, Texas. Business owner/operator K & H Real Estate office in Coleman Texas and lastly real estate sales agent at Tootie Kelly real estate at Lake Brownwood. Chief Cook and Head bottle washer at home, as Dad would say. And the most difficult roll of all, to keep Scott and myself safe alive all of those years we should have not survived.
Always on the side of the underdog ready to help someone down on their luck. Evident at her amphibious assault on a large snapping turtle that invaded the creek in our back yard in Houston. Now baby duck was one of 7 born to our momma duck. They used to march around the yard in single file, little black and yellow troops following their momma as if you could hear the cadence “left, right, left” being called … even had the rhythm. Cutest thing to watch. The one to the rear of the formation was usually the weaker of the species. So, one came up missing one day, then another, and another. Well mom declared war at this point realizing if something was not done, we would lose them all. So, Scott and I gladly took our assignments as sentry’s to always be on the lookout for snakes and turtles and any other critters that might like the taste of duck, and we had authority to use excessive force (shotgun) if need be. After a brief reconnaissance mission and a few practice shots to remain the sharp shooters, we were, A snake turned out to be the first enemy and had one lil duckling in his mouth (mom found that one) Mom made the call “Get the Shotgun Now” me and Scott tripped over one another trying to get to be the one to get the gun. No contest, Scott was the victor in that challenge and “BLAM” we now had a front part and a back part of a snake. Unfortunately, the lil duckling suffered a broken leg in the mouth of the snake. So Mom took on role as the medic and field stripped a popsicle stick and duck taped it as a splint. We celebrated our victory and proceeded to chow. Next day, cutest lil duck was last in the line of four marching ducklings, a lil extra distance behind the others as he had to throw that splinted leg around in a half circle in order to move forward. We giggled and went on about our business. That afternoon, I arrived home from school, looked around for mom, not in the house so I proceeded to the back yard to check on the little one, there was mom on the declining creek bank overlooking the creek and she was focused on something. I hollered “Mom, whatcha looking at?”, she said “I think there’s a turtle under the water trying to get one of the ducks”. Little feller swam funny, but surprisingly faster than I expected. It was about that time lil buddy went BLOOP, straight under the muddy murky water, Oh God…it’s on (I thought to myself, as I froze trying to decide whether to get the gun or not) Mom departed that bank in Olympic fashion Hollering “HELL NO, Hell NO “and went into the waist deep muddy creek in a white shirt and tan slacks and all. Flailing about like a mad woman, splashing and kicking at nothing but a suspicion… and then paused….at what seemed to be an eternity of the two us staring hard at the surface of that water as if we expected to see a great white shark roll to surface. All of the sudden, in the same fashion as he went under, he popped right back up. Excited to be free from that tyranny, Mom had snatched that duckling out of the water before he could get air and off she went. “We’re going to need more tape and new popsicle stick. Gary get the gun and sit there, and don’t come back til you have a turtle to show. “
Later, after retirement, here in Brownwood, she continued serving through an agency that was very dear to her heart. As a CASA volunteer representative (Court Appointed Special Advocate) she gave her all in trying to assist children in serious need of an adult voice to represent them in the natural and foster home settings. Continually reporting to the courts on conditions the children were living in, making in-home visits. She passionately pursued justice and safety for the children’s cases that she was assigned. Working closely with Child Protective Services and other agencies continually filing reports and making phone calls, scheduling visits and getting approval from the various entities involved. Many miles of travel, many hours spent committed to these kids. I know, because every time I went to visit her, she would give me an hour long briefing on exactly where her children were in the system and their wellbeing. I saw anger, sadness and joy all in the same conversation about any of these children. I knew they were getting the ‘best of the best’ when they were assigned to Patta. Made me feel sad for the rest.
She volunteered her time and efforts to the Lake Brownwood Community Development Council. Encouraging the success of businesses in the Lake Brownwood area to thrive and new businesses to start. Numerous hours volunteered in achieving the organizational goals through attending meetings, writing reports, face to face with business owners and employees. Coordinating and participating in funds raisers for the local volunteer fire department. I believe she performed several functions inside the committee. Again, I know because I got the briefing during my visits with her, I think she used to run stuff passed me to see how they floated…. If I agreed, then it was a bad idea… If I was against an idea… then it was a for sure success!!
A cherished member of the Lake Brownwood United Methodist Church, continuously volunteering her time and efforts to fund raising, some bookkeeping, cooking, serving our Lord, taking turns telling stories that probably aren’t true (ha). She Loved her Church and members.
I have only scratched the surface of the accomplishments this lady has done. She also accomplished all of these things while taking excellent care of our family teaching us to respect others, ourselves, to have a kind heart and to own up to our mistakes.
What a perfect role model for young women and men. We could not have picked a better Mom for ourselves and Grandparent for our families. Patta will be missed dearly by numerous family members and friends too many to mention all.
Condolences, memories, and tributes can be offered to the Blake family online at heartlandfuneralhome.net