Patricia "Pat" Faye Hatten Nance's Obituary
Patricia "Pat" Faye Hatten Nance, who brightened the world with her arrival on December 9, 1946, departed her family and friends on January 7, 2023. Her final words encapsulated her and the love she always gave those close to her, "I love you."
As a child, Pat trotted the globe as an "army brat," residing in Texas, Maryland, Hawai'i, and Okinawa, though she longed to put down roots in Texas, which she later did, raising her children in El Paso. Young Pat loved horses, playing 'birds nesting on the side of the hill' in Okinawa, and reading (mostly about horses).
Pat spent her time in El Paso frequenting used bookstores, eating at Wyatt's cafeteria, Golden Corral, or Genghis Khan on Friday nights, playing D&D with her friends on Saturdays, shaping many lives as a teacher for Ysleta Independent School District, and making a happy home. She taught her children that with creativity and determination you can undertake just about anything, and demonstrated that by laying cement, building a patio cover, reflooring her house, crafting her own kitchen cabinets, and running a ridiculously long phone cord from the main bedroom phone jack to her children's bedroom so they could tie up the phone line for hours and hours at a time.
Pat had a lifelong love of creativity, and there probably wasn't a craft she didn't try at least once, from tatting to painting ceramics to English flower arranging, but sewing was her forte. She fashioned her daughter's wedding dress and made beautiful quilts and more clothes than a single closet could hold.
Pat loved to travel with her family, adventuring with her parents and children throughout the United States, including exotic locales from New York City to Des Moines, and Europe, touring England, Ireland, Germany, Spain, Austria, and Portugal, among others. She even made Germany her home for a time, learning a love of good German beer and bratwurst.
After retiring, Pat joined her daughter and son-in-law in Utah. She was thrilled to be with family and have new adventures, like off-roading in the Utah wilderness, ogling the F-35s flying from Hill AFB, traveling to Bend, and indulging her lifelong love of all things sweet.
Pat is survived by two children, Christopher and Nicole, their spouses, Stephanie and Christian, her grandson, Casey, her sister, Lynn, and her dearest friend, Wendy.
In lieu of flowers, please honor Pat with a donation to either the Humane Society of Utah, which provided Ngila, the little dorkie that always brought a smile to Pat's face, or to the Alzheimer's Association, which is working to end the dementia that stole Pat's light.
The family would love for all who knew her to share memories, thoughts, and condolences at www.premierfuneral.com.
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