Norman M. "Bud" and Patricia "Patti" O. Bylsma

Sep. 11, 1929 - Mar 6, 2023

Patricia “Patti” Otwell Bylsma, 93, died peacefully in Kirkland, WA on March 6, 2023. She was born in San Francisco, California on September 11, 1929. Her parents were Eunice Otwell of California and Demetrio Carvajal from Cuba. Her father returned to Cuba soon after she was born, so she was raised by her mother, her grandfather (Colonel Curtis Otwell), and step grandmother in southern California. Her mother remarried and Patti became a big sister to a half-brother and two half-sisters. She graduated from Van Nuys High School, and at age 17 when her mother died, she was mentored by a woman who guided her to become a Christian, and she attended Simpson Bible College.

She married Norman "Bud" Bylsma on June 9, 1950 in Seattle, and a year later, their first child, Cherie Lynn, was born. Patti stopped attending college to be a mother and Bud started working for Young Life, a Christian ministry to teenagers. His job took them to the east coast where Patti gave birth to Peter James (Pete), Philip Jon (Phil), and Stephen Scott (Steve). The family moved to California in 1961 where they lived in four different cities.

She had put college on hold for many years but finally graduated in 1969, at age 39, with a BA in Sociology from Biola University in La Mirada, CA. Later that year, the family moved to the Chicago area (Hinsdale) and Patti continued her education and became a teacher of students learning English—she loved to support and help others who were new to the country. Later, she started a tutoring program in Cabrini Green, a massive low-income complex in the poorest and most dangerous part of Chicago.

In 1982, she and Bud moved to Bangladesh and lived there for three years. Bud directed a large Christian consortium (HEED Bangladesh) and Patti created a school to teach English. She hired and trained Bengalis and created the curriculum to helped many Bengalis learn English so they could further their education and get better jobs. The school is still one of the most highly regarded language institutions in Bangladesh.

After Patti and Bud returned to the US in 1985, they worked in the Pacific Northwest in various Christian ministries. Patti worked as an education consultant and set up tutoring programs in the inner city for Northwest Leadership Foundation. She was also involved in the Healing Prayer Ministry at Bethany Presbyterian Church in Seattle and taught English to Asian refugees and Hispanic immigrants. Using her expertise in teaching English, she made three trips to China and taught beginning and intermediate conversational English techniques to university professors of English. She later traveled to Kyrgyzstan with her church to teach English learning methods to university professors who taught English, then taught teachers of English in Antalya, Turkey.

Patti always wondered about her father, and she traveled to Cuba to see if she could find any relatives she might have. She found out that her father died in 1958, and she met some of her Cuban relatives, including a half-brother she didn’t know about. She made several more trips to Cuba to visit her extended family and teach English at a Baptist seminary. In 2013 she made her last international trip and visited her relatives in Cuba with her son Peter.

Eventually Patti and Bud lived in a series of retirement and assisted living homes. Bud died peacefully in May 2021 — they had been married for more than 70 years. Patti lived happily for nearly two more years in Kirkland, Washington, until her death on March 6, 2023. While living in a care home, people often remarked about her wonderful smile. She was a loving and devoted wife, mother, sister, friend, and teacher. She was loved by her four children, seven grandchildren, and four great grandchildren as well as her many lifelong friends and students she influenced and helped during her teaching years. She was a humble servant and never talked about her accomplishments. She was well respected by all and was truly dedicated to serving the Lord — she lived out Matthew 10:8, “Freely you have received; freely give.”

Patti is survived by her 4 children, Cherie Bevans of Kauai HI, Dr. Peter (Noreen) Bylsma of Kirkland, WA, Philip (Deanna) Bylsma of Bainbridge Island, WA, and Dr. Stephen (Anita) Bylsma of Arroyo Grande, CA, as well as her 7 grandchildren, 4 great grandchildren, and her sister Carolyn Moussa of Pleasant Hill, CA. The story of her life and family is found on the Bylsma Foundation website (www.bylsmafoundation.org). She will be buried next to Bud in the Abbey View Memorial Park, 3601 Alaska Road, Brier, WA, 98036. The family will conduct a private celebration of her life sometime in the future.

NORMAN M. (BUD) BYLSMA

April 16, 1928 – May 12, 2021

Bud Bylsma, 93, passed away peacefully at his home in Kirkland, WA after dealing with cancer and kidney failure. Born in Lynden, WA, Bud grew up in Seattle and graduated from Roosevelt High School in 1945. He was awarded a basketball scholarship to the University of Washington but wanted to attend a smaller school, so he attended Simpson Bible College (now Simpson University) and started a basketball team. In his second year, the team beat Seattle Pacific College in a David vs Goliath game, and SPC offered him a full basketball scholarship where he was a member of the legendary “Big Guns of ‘51” basketball team. His ball-handling skills and no-look passes as a 6’2” center amazed even his fellow players. He has received numerous alumni awards from both schools.

While at Simpson, he met the love of his life, Patti Barber. After graduation, they married and Bud started working for Young Life, a Christian ministry to teenagers. His career in YL took them to Philadelphia, then Baltimore and the DC area, then back to California where he worked in the San Jose and Los Angeles areas. The family then relocated to Hinsdale, IL where he oversaw YL activities in four states. He finished his YL career in Portland, OR. He was known for his ability to develop leaders, hiring those who eventually became presidents of YL in the US and Canada as well as national directors of training and human resources.

After Bud completed his 30-year career with YL in 1981 and having earned an MA from Fuller Seminary, he said he wanted to “get an education” from and about the Third World. Through World Concern, he became the Executive Director of HEED Bangladesh (Health, Education, Economic Development), an international consortium with more than 50 foreign staff from a dozen countries. He and Patti served in Dhaka, Bangladesh for 4 years while HEED built hospitals, flood control systems, and extensive health educational systems in many villages. Bud determined that most of what western agencies were doing was “welfare” and not the development of nationals, so he created a plan to replace all foreign staff with native Bengalis and nationalize the Board (everybody told him it wouldn’t work). He sent local staff abroad to develop expertise in their respective technical areas and in management. Within seven years, all the foreign staff were gone, making it one of the largest turnovers in the history of Christian missions. HEED is still a massive Christian agency serving the needs of the poor today.

Bud and Patti returned to the US where Bud worked at Bethany Presbyterian Church in Seattle and helped develop ministries to urban areas. He created the Northwest Leadership Foundation to “encourage, strengthen and development leadership for the social and spiritual renewal of the city.” Working with black leaders, he created the Coalition for Community Renewal that helped with housing, education, and job development. The foundation grew to have staff in Seattle, Tacoma, Spokane, and Salem. He and Patti moved to Portland and continued advising organizations about their effectiveness and helped create several non-profits. At Warner Pacific University, he was the catalyst for the creation of a new major in Urban Studies. He served on more than a dozen boards, including two universities. At age 71, he went to Albania to help resettle nearly a million refugees from Yugoslavia. He and Patti also made several trips to Cuba to visit her family and teach local leaders. They also visited several other countries on short-term missions. He retired from ministry at age 85 when he and Patti moved from Portland to the Seattle area.

Bud is survived by his four children: Cherie Bevans of Kauai HI, Dr. Peter (Noreen) Bylsma of Kirkland, WA, Philip (Deanna) Bylsma of Bainbridge Island, WA, and Dr. Stephen (Anita) Bylsma of Arroyo Grande, CA; 7 grandchildren, 4 great grandchildren, and his sister Jeanne (David) Greene of Sun City West, AZ. A public graveside service will be held at Abby View Memorial Park in Brier, WA at 10:00 am on June 1. His memoirs will be published this summer. Please share your memories and pictures of Bud to this website using the link below.