Patricia Crum Stumpf

She was born and raised in Montana, living in Forsyth and Hysham, before coming to the Northwest with her husband Frank and young family in about 1950.

Her adult life was as a mother and provider: raising five children (another, Carolyn, died in infancy), supporting the family after Frank died in 1970, caring for her invalid brother Virgil for 20 years, and being a model of selfless love and dignified conduct to all.

In her later decades, macular degeneration took away driving and reading, and time diminished her short-term memory, but she lived on her own at the family home in Auburn past her 95th birthday. She had curiosity about everything, a great love of music, and a rich store of long-remembered poetry in her head. She was heard quoting pages of Longfellow in her 90s.

Mom’s unassuming wisdom was based on respecting individuals as she found them, the utterly impractical idea that one should actually live Gospel values, and an unreasonable faith that goodness would come from good people gone wrong, eventually, if goodness was expected of them. “Patience and fortitude,” she often prayed. God gave her patience that she did not herself have, and she showed an inner fortitude that endured much.

She is cherished by five children, Nick, Felix, Marilyn, Mark and Melissa, their spouses, a host of grandchildren and their children, and all who called her Pat, Grandma or Mammy.

A funeral Mass will be said at Holy Family Church, Auburn, on Wednesday, October 22, at 11 am. A vigil will precede it on Tuesday evening at 7 pm at Price-Helton Funeral Home.

Arrangements under the direction of Price-Helton Funeral Home, Auburn, WA.