Pat Lawton

Pat Lawton

Pat Lawton, 103, died October 13, in the Palmer Pioneer Home of complications of age and the broken hip she sustained in late summer. Until August she had lived alone for 30 years in the family home after she was widowed.

Pat was born Leva Edith Graham, on 1 February 1918, in Dibble, Oklahoma, a middle child of four sisters and four brothers. When her last sibling died a few years ago she remarked that “All my sisters outlived their husbands; all my brothers took care of their wives.”

Pat lost her mother to cancer when she was twelve. She grew up on a hardscrabble farm, and her early memories recall details of toiling in fields and the home but are unclouded by the effects to life in Dibble of the Great Depression, the Spanish Flu epidemic, or the Dust Bowl. Tellingly, most of her siblings resettled in California while still young.

After high school Pat attended secretarial school in Michigan and there met and married Lloyd Lawton. They lived in Saginaw where Lloyd worked for General Motors, and where Joe and Ginger were born. After WWII Lloyd made two trips over the new Alaska Highway, and in 1947 relocated the family to Palmer. Pat had son Jeff in Palmer. She re-entered the workforce part time at Matanuska Electric Association when it had five total employees. She then served as secretary for the Project Engineer for the Bureau of Reclamation’s Eklutna Dam Hydro Electric Construction. After its completion she joined the Matanuska Telephone Association, which had eleven employees. She served as secretary to the General Manager until she retired in 1979.

Pat was active in her church, and in the Cheechako’s Homemaker’s Club until it dissolved. She was an ardent bowler and golfer for many years. In the 1970’s and 1980’s she visited friends in the Palmer Pioneer Home so often that she was sometimes taken for an employee or resident. She was recognized in proclamations and citations from her State, Borough, and City. She lived in the same house in North Palmer for 73 years. Husband Lloyd died in 1991, and daughter Ginger in 2007. Sons Joe and Jeff reside in the Palmer area. Her eight grandchildren and many offspring survive her.

A memorial service is scheduled for 11:00 am, 13 November, in the United Protestant Church. Pat requested that in lieu of flowers persons consider a donation to the charity of their choice or to the United Protestant Church. The church has a Pat Lawton Memorial Fund for projects in her name.