Rada Fern May

Rada Fern May, age 84, passed away on December 13, 2024 in Garland, Texas. She was born on April 30, 1940 in Bakersfield, California, to Ernest Evert Paty and Ola Rada Paty. Fern was raised in the Oak Cliff/East Dallas area and graduated from South Oak Cliff High School (Golden Bears) in 1958.

She married Melvin Earl May in 1958 and the couple had 3 children. She worked as a Data Entry Processor at Blue Cross Blue Shield and Charter Builders for many years. When she started, IBM card keypunch machines were used. As technology improved, and microcomputers were introduced, Fern jumped into learning about the new technology and was ready to go when keypunch machines were replaced by computers.

In her spare time, Fern enjoyed gardening, genealogy, cooking, card games, parties, board games, reading novels, puzzles of all kinds, sewing, traveling, and camping. She was an avid bowler, and served as league secretary, which she thoroughly enjoyed.

Her family and friends will always remember her as a kind, caring, and loving person, as well as a good friend, good wife, and the best mom one could have. She made absolutely the best chicken and dumplings, an often requested meal. She will be remembered for her love of Christmas. Fern loved cooking large holiday meals for her family and friends and always went all out with her decorations.

She is preceded in death by her parents, Ernest Evert Paty and Ola Rada Paty; her husband, Melvin Earl May; and sister, Letha Diane Burns.

She is survived by her brother, Ernest Paty (Faith); sons, Ricky and Larry (Deann), and daughter Debra Goree (Ken); grandchildren, David (Heather), Joshua (Lia), Tabitha, Abigail, Kelli Nguyen, Kevin Goree (Kate), and Mary; great-grandchildren, Jack, Kaitlyn, and Adam Farringer and a host of extended family members and friends.

Fern worked hard her whole life to take care of her family. She was always more concerned about the needs of her family than herself. For example, when her son Larry mentioned missing her while stationed in Germany, Fern packed her bags and went on vacation to Germany to see him. She maintained a home, she worked outside the home, and she showed her love through both words and deeds. She still found time to maintain close relationships with many friends who are like family.