Patricia "Pat" Beverly Rice

Patricia "Pat" Beverly Rice, a much-loved wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother passed away on November 10, 2023 at the age of 87.

Pat was born in Waltham, MA on September 30, 1936 to Paul Buckingham Dudley and Phyllis Beverly Dudley. In 1954, she moved across the country to settle in Southern California where she had the good fortune of meeting her husband, Roy Rice, on a blind date. They were married on December 1, 1957 and in 1960 moved to Eastern Washington where they raised their four children. In 2009, Pat and Roy moved to Thurston County, WA.

Pat had a quick wit, a sharp sense of humor and unique candor. She loved books. Her family suspects she had read every book from the nearby local library. She had many quilting and sewing projects ongoing throughout the year. As a photographer, writer, reporter and volunteer historian, Pat generously contributed her many talents, not only to her family but also to their community.

Pat was a reporter and photographer for the Davenport Times and the Wilbur Register. She would sit down at her desk every Monday morning and call local families to get their hometown news.

As the sports photographer for Almira High School, Pat developed photos in her darkroom for the newspaper and yearbook. She was also instrumental in visiting and collecting information from families for a history of Almira, WA in advance of its centennial anniversary in 1989. The result was a 400+ page book that is listed in the U.S. Library of Congress with Pat Rice as editor. Pat also spearheaded a project to chronicle those buried in Almira Cemetery as well as LaFollette Cemetery, nine miles north of Almira. She created an index so that people could find the plots of their ancestors.

Pat leaves behind Roy, her loving husband of more than 65 years, their four children and twelve grandchildren: their daughter Beverly (Michael Mott) Cooke of Kalama, WA and her daughters Kayla (Dustin) Wilson, Jamie (Nick) Burch and Lisa (Louis) Newsom and son William (Racheal Alexandria) Cooke; son Rob (Helena) Rice of Olympia, WA and sons Alex Rice and Carson Rice; daughter Carolyn (Victor) Stolle of Spokane, WA and her sons Rob (Melissa) Vannice, Jeff (Bobbi Lipke) Vannice and daughter Lexi (Latham) Rhoades; son Steven (Megan) Rice of Princeton, TX and daughters Allison Rice and Megan Rice and son Jon Rice. Pat had eleven great-grandchildren with one on the way. She remained close and spoke often to her good friend Marian Lightwood of Kerry Lake, AK.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Hesseltine Public Library - Friends of the Library and sent to Friends of the Library, PO Box 185, Wilbur, WA 99185.