Patricia Emma Paulson Willis, 86, formerly of Haines, died in Washington, D.C. in 2005.
Private family internment of her ashes is scheduled April 2 at Mount Hope Cemetery. There will be a no-host dinner afterward at the Haines Steak House at 5 p.m. Anyone wishing to remember Mrs. Willis is invited.
The daughter of Erna Loennig Paulson and Norris Paulson, Patricia Emma Paulson Willis was born at Haines on Sept. 1, 1919. She attended school at Haines and Muddy Creek for a short time before moving to Los Angeles with her parents and two sisters.
Later she returned to spend a year with her grandparents and attended sixth grade at Muddy Creek. She visited a number of times after that and was particularly proud of the land that she owned until her death at Muddy Creek. She made certain on her death that it would remain in the family.
She graduated from UCLA and moved with her congressman father to Washington, D.C., where she lived until her death. She married John Willis in 1943 and had three children, Dianna, Erna, and Henry, all of whom with their respective spouses survive her. Mr. Willis died in 1993.
Patty, as the family called her, was very active in many clubs and other charitable activities in Washington. She enjoyed being involved in her children’s school because education mattered a great deal to her.
Later, after her children had married and moved to other locales, she became a licensed real estate agent.
Mrs. Willis had a wide circle of acquaintances, many with whom she and her husband journeyed to Europe. She toured many of the great and near-great gardens of France, England, Portugal, and Italy, and maintained a very fine garden at her home in Washington.
She and John visited their daughter, Erna, and her husband on their many postings for their work with A.I.D.
She and her sisters enjoyed traveling and she always looked forward to her sister, Erna Bea’s, trips to Washington where they spent many hours visiting the many art galleries in and around D.C.
Mrs. Willis was preceded in death by her parents; her husband; her sister, Norissa Brandt; and a niece, Ramona Brandt.
Survivors include her three children; three grandchildren; three nieces and nephews, and her Loennig and Hayhurst cousins.
Used with permission from: Baker City Herald, Baker City, Oregon, March 20, 2007
Transcribed by: Belva Ticknor