Patricia Anne Hearn

Patricia Anne Hearn, born March 18, 1931 to Harry E. and Opal Rather in Wichita, Kansas, passed away February 11, 2013 in Houston, Texas. Patricia was preceded in death by her parents and her sister, Lorna Ellen Hull. She is survived by her beloved husband of almost 55 years, Darrel G. Hearn; daughter, Kathleen A. Hearn; son, Bryan D. Hearn, and by other family and friends.

Patricia was a born artist and performer. Her mother taught piano, and Patricia’s first memory was of standing on a stage in the spotlight at one of her mother’s recitals. From there she became a gifted, life-long musician, pianist, singer, composer, and artist. As a girl she sang in school musicals, then attended Southern Methodist University, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Houston.

Patricia sang at the old Shamrock Hotel, and that is where Darrel proposed marriage to her. She and Darrel began singing together in the early 1970's, and Kathleen started singing with them the second year. When Patricia's children were little, she encouraged them in creative endeavors, also. Patricia and her family sang gospel and Texas Historical Music together for many years, and sang for 20 years straight at the Texas Folklife Festival on the Gospel Brush Arbor Stage in San Antonio and made many long-time friends there. They performed on the television shows Good Morning Houston and the Eyes of Texas. Their first album is in the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C., and their music is the background music for the museum at Washington-on-the-Brazos. The Texas State Historical Society in Austin asked them to sing for many dignitaries, including James Michener, and Ron Stone, who interviewed them. Patricia sang as soloist for Oaks Christian Church for many years, and there are those who say they attended that church to hear her sing! Patricia was also a talented artist. One of her many paintings was displayed in the Dallas Museum of Art.

Visitation will be from 2:00 p.m. until 5:00 p.m. Sunday, February 17, 2013 at Heights Funeral Home, and again from 1:00 p.m. until 2:00 p.m. Monday, February 18, 2013 in the Chapel of Heights Funeral Home, where the funeral service will begin at 2:00 p.m. Interment will follow in Forest Park East Cemetery, 21620 Gulf Freeway, Webster, Texas 77598. For those desiring, the family suggests memorial donations may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association.

More memories from daughter, Kathleen:

Mom and Dad's 1st performance of Texas Historical songs was in 1975 for the Harris County Historical Society. Dad played the piano and sang and Mom sang. They (we) sang for them, for the Houston Historical Society, and for the Houston Heritage Society for so many years we can't remember.

We sang as a family for over 30 years at various festivals, churches, museums, and historical societies in Texas and surrounding states.

We sang at Dickens on the Strand for several years and once on the historical 1877 ship Elissa docked in Galveston: http://www.galvestonhistory.org/1877_tall_ship_elissa.asp

We sang for many years in the 1970's and 80's at the July 4th celebrations and the Candlelight Christmas tours at Sam Houston Park in downtown Houston.

We sang at the Winedale Festival every spring for many years in the 1970's and 1980's in Round Top, TX.

We lived in Puebla, Mexico, in 1970 and Mom was given the honor to sit at the "potter's wheel" at the famous Talavera Pottery Factory to make Talavera Pottery.

She loved to cook and to teach me (Kathleen - her daughter) how to bake as a little girl. We loved to make little cookies and cakes for Daddy and would have them waiting for him when he would come home from work every day.

She was also a gifted seamstress and could sew beautiful gowns and dresses and create them in her own head and not have to use a pattern. She was fabulously gifted and creative musically and artistically.

Mom and Dad were married for 54 years, 5 months and 26 days. They met and married in TWO MONTHS because they both knew immediately that they were meant for each other and were deeply in love. They were devoted to each other and still held hands until the day we had to put her in hospice.

Mom and Dad both deeply loved the Mexico and New Mexico cultures and spent much time in both places. They spent their honeymoon in Eagle Nest, NM, where her family had cabins.

Mom deeply loved all of our dogs. Her first dog I remember her talking about was named Toto. Most of our pictures have her holding one of our many dogs. She called them her "Grandpuppies".

Mom loved to laugh and make others happy and always saw the very best in others. She was my best friend and we sang next to each other for as long as I can remember as a family and in the church choirs we belonged to. (Dad was at her side as well and played the piano and sang in the choirs too...we all did together.) We loved to go shopping together (she called me her "shopping or mall buddy") and we loved to go to concerts and movies together and called me her "movie buddy" as well. We all used to go to concerts and to Miller Outdoor Theater as a family. I remember bringing my friends from school, church, and other places home with me and they always told me that they loved to come over just to be with my parents and my Mom...just to be with my Mom! She would adopt them all as her "extended family". They said that they would come over just to see her. Mom and Dad would open our home to my friends who didn't have family during the holidays and have them over so that they would have a family to be with. She was very deeply loved by everyone and she NEVER met a stranger and would strike up a conversation with just about anyone she ever met. She was very outgoing and social.

She also LOVED sports and all of our Houston teams - the Astros, the Rockets and ESPECIALLY the Luv Ya Blue Houston Oilers. She was well enough to know that we got the Houston Texans but never got to appreciate them because she got sick so fast, but she really loved those Houston Oilers.

It's very hard to compile her wonderful and beautiful life into a few paragraphs or thoughts.

Thank you so very much,

Kathleen