Tribute to Patricia Lavens Jones Patricia Ann Lavens Jones, 76, of Cordova, Alaska, passed away November 2, 2007, after a six-year battle with cancers and aphasia. She died in Spearfish, South Dakota, after enjoying visits with her three children and her brother and sister. Pat (Patty) was born August 17, 1931, in Wendell, Idaho, to parents, Kenneth Reid Lavens and Naomi Mundt Luney Lavens. She spent her childhood on the family farm in Jerome, Idaho, and attended Canyonside Elementary and Jerome High School. Her early life previewed her involvement in activities, her determination and drive to succeed, her high standards and emphasis on education, and her love of travel and adventure. Pattys high school activities included playing alto saxophone in the band, winning the Sew It with Wool contest, serving as an active member in the local Jobs Daughters, and participating in swimming and skiing adventures to Sun Valley. She helped with the family farm and sheep business while excelling in school. She graduated with top grades and many lifelong friends with Jerome High Schools Class of 49. Patty attended college at Idaho State College in Pocatello where she played alto saxophone in the band, competed in swimming and diving, was a member of the elite Spurs and Octagon academic clubs, was crowned Queen of the Military Ball, and broke several hearts along the way. She later met her lifelong partner and sweetheart, Byron L. Jones, at a college dance. During college summers she taught swimming lessons or worked on the family farm. She graduated from Idaho State with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Education in June 1953 and later that month married Byron Jones in Jerome, Idaho. While Byron served in the Marines in Japan, Patty worked at First Security Bank in Jerome and later joined Byron for a short time in San Diego, California. After Byrons military service, Patty and Byron moved to Castleford, Idaho. When children Shannon and Vic were born, Patty stayed home with them while Byron taught and coached at Castleford High School from 1954 to 1957. In the summers, Patty was the swimming instructor at a recreational camp in Salmon, Idaho while Byron served as Camp Director. After seeing a friends pictures of Cordovas beautiful snow, they packed their belongings and headed to Alaska in 1957 with the intent of driving to Cordova on the road under construction shown on the Territory of Alaska map. (That road was never built!) They planned to stay to teach for two years at Cordova High School yet they ended up making their home in the 49th State for 49 years! They were true pioneers of that great state and took in all the treasures Cordova had to offer . . . . . hunting, sport fishing, commercial fishing, three-wheeling, berry picking, beachcombing, Strawberry Point excursions, bowling, square dancing, skiing, saucer sledding, ice skating, swimming and flying. When they first arrived in Cordova, Byron taught and coached the CHS Wolverines and Pat taught high school English between 1957 and 1962. Daughter Heidi was born in 1962 and after she started into kindergarten, Pat again worked outside the home as secretary to Harold Z. Hansen at the Cordova Aquatic Marketing Association. She served on the Cordova School Board and, consistent with her passion for travel, she attended National School Board meetings in Pennsylvania and ended up on a group tour to Portugal and Spain! Pat later returned to teaching business classes for Cordova High School (typing, shorthand, bookkeeping, etc.) while serving as class advisor, yearbook and photography advisor, and student employee placement coordinator. Summers kept her occupied with the family commercial salmon fishing efforts. She seined on the Kathleen L and fished their Crafton Island set net site for several years. Between sets, Pat and Byron ensured that their children mastered the valuable fishing skills of playing pinochle and cribbage. In 1974, not wanting to lose out on a travel opportunity, Pat chaperoned daughter Shannon during a months tour of Europe by train and a month of foreign studies in Conversational German at the University of Vienna. Even as recent as 2004, she rallied daughter, Heidi, for a trip to Cancun, Cozumel, Playa del Carmen and the Mayan ruins in Mexico! Spurred by her appetite for adventure, Pat took up flying and earned her private pilots license in 1977. She later joined the Ninety Nines Women Pilots of Alaska. In 1979 Pat oversaw the efforts of an Anchorage contractor as he doubled the size of their Railroad Avenue house just in time for all the kids to move out! Pat was great at organizing and getting things done. She served on countless boards and committees with unending energy. While serving as treasurer, she helped the Sheridan Ski Club bring a chair lift from Ketchum, Idaho complete with free shipping. As a member of St. Georges Episcopal Church, she traveled throughout Alaska and the US to the church delegation conventions. She aided the Cordova Historical Society and participated in several Iceworm Festivals in various capacities. She served a Governors appointment to the State of Alaska Vocational and Career Education Advisory Council. She taught 55-Alive and tax classes for AARP and served as an ElderHostel host. Her more recent involvement was with the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association and the Cordova Electric Cooperative, where she worked in both Juneau and Washington, DC to obtain funding for the Power Creek Dam. In the midst of all the work, however, Pat was good at playing. She lived life to the fullest and enjoyed it to the max. She served as Cordovas unpaid ambassador and tour guide extraordinaire for anyone ready and willing to venture to Alaska for an experience of a lifetime. She was a member of the Ladies of the Elks, the Cordova Skiff N Kickers Square Dance Club, the Pioneers of Alaska, the ladies bridge and sewing clubs and her Cordova lunch bunch. The only things they left their Cordova paradise for were bungee jumping in New Zealand at the age of 61, hot air balloon rides over the Watering Hole in Kenya, Africa, and succumbing to the wiles of several timeshare salesmen in Mexico and Hawaii! They explored Machu Picchu in Peru, the Copper Canyon in Mexico, and the narrow gauge railroad between White Pass and Skagway. Pat never turned down an opportunity to travel so when Byron wouldnt miss playing in an Iceworm Basketball Tournament, she set off with daughter, Shannon, for a 14-day cruise through the Panama Canal. Pat was never one to back down from challenges; she met them head on with energy, persistence and an infectious smile. After the stress of a small house fire in 2000, Pat battled breast cancer in 2001, aphasia since 2003, thyroid cancer in 2005, and thyroid and brain tumors in 2007. She handled her situations with tremendous courage and determination. Pat was preceded in death by her husband of 53 years, Byron L. Jones in 2006; parents, Kenneth and Naomi Lavens; sister, Beverly Smith; in laws, Victor and Helen Jones; sister-in-law, Mary Lou Rudeen; niece, Lynn Langer Meeks; nephew, Bruce Rudeen, brother-in-laws, Doug Burgess, Jerry James, Claire Rudeen and Fred Smith. Pat is survived by daughter, Shannon Kristeller and her husband, Peter, of Fairbanks, Alaska; son, Victor Jones and his wife, Pam, of Cordova; daughter, Heidi Bucher and her husband, Lyndon, of Belle Fourche, South Dakota; grandchildren Matthew, Chelsea and Kenneth Jones, Kaysha and Hannah Bucher, Jennifer and Julie Gilhuly, and Jay Kristeller; sisters, Jackie Larsen and Karen James; brother, Dr. Tim Lavens; brother-in-law, Denzel Larsen; sister-in-law, Nancy Lavens; nephews and niece, Scott, Robert, Kent, David, Tim and Helen Rudeen and their spouses and loved ones. Honoring Pats request to be cremated, a memorial service will be held in Spearfish, South Dakota, at Edgewood Vista on Tuesday, November 6, at 10:45 am. A memorial service at the Hove-Robertson Funeral Home in Jerome, Idaho will be held on November 10, 2007 at 2 pm. Some of her ashes will be interred along with Byrons in the Jerome, Idaho cemetery. A later memorial service will be held November 24 in Cordova, Alaska, where her remaining ashes will be scattered over Prince William Sound.