Source: THE DAILY OKLAHOMAN, Wednesday, April 4, 1962
GRANDMA BECKY'S LIFE WAS FULL OF LOVE, SERVICE
By Roy P. Stewart
"I am not much of a writer," Mrs. Margaret Lansford Phillips said in a letter from Pittsburgh, "but I want to tell you about Grandma, Mrs. Rebecca Cacy Patrick, who died last week.
"She will not be in history books but she was the type needed to build a new country, and a new state. A hard working, God fearing woman who lived each day in service to her Lord and who taught her children that same faith, that same purpose.
"It was her kind of people, the everyday people who brought their moral standards and spiritual convictions to Indian Territory. They had the courage of those convictions. That is what built Oklahoma.
"Grandma Becky must have been one of the last of Oklahoma's real pioneers. She went from Illinois to the Territory in a covered wagon in the early 1880's. They were farmers, her people, and Becky could and did do a man's work. She worked hard in field or house; she never complained; her laughter made it easier for everyone else. Her main philosophy was 'just thank the Lord for a chance.'
"Becky couldn't attend school. It was too far away and there was too much work to be done. But she wanted to know what was written in the Bible. When she first looked, those words might as well have been Latin. But she learned to read, how I don't know, but she did.
"She learned to write too, using that old English script in the Bible for a pattern, and it always looked that way. Trying to read it was an experience. I wish I had saved the only letter I ever got from her.
"She took almost literally the Good Book's admonition: 'Go forth and replenish the earth.' She did her best. There are more than 200 direct descendants. She could hardly keep up correspondence with all of us who loved her.
"Grandma was a big woman - not a fat one - but big. Strong and hardy, with a broad face that showed plainly she was ready to meet life head-on, to take whatever it gave, good or bad.
"One of my earliest memories was visiting her on the farm. She was in a cotton field and as I ran down the row to meet her, she looked up. That broad Irish face lighted up as only an Irish face can - then threw back her head and laughed for joy. Raising her work roughened hands over her head she said, 'Glory! Glory be, Lord!' And shed a few tears from emotion, for that was Irish also.
"Last week Grandma went to see the Lord she served so well, and praised so much on earth. I can assure you that when she went into the Presence, she didn't back in, and she didn't go in with her head hanging down.
"No sir -- Grandma did her best for the Lord on earth. She made some mistakes but she did her best -- can anyone do more? So you will understand when I say that she went unafraid, as though greeting another loved one after a long absence. That is the heritage she left to me."
Source: Connie (Sanders) Beebe
My great-grandmother Patrick (as I knew her) was very much loved by her family. I have many photographs that belonged to my grandmother Hattie where her sisters and brother were gathered around their mother. There were gatherings where Hattie and her sisters would dress a certain theme. In one photograph they had all made a dress from towels. Another they wore Pilgram dress. One photo was of great-grandmother Patrick in bed wearing a sash and a crown. You could tell by the many photos of the clan that they were close.
I remember my great-grandmother as she lay in her bed. Her hair was white, the sheets were white and her skin was very white. I wondered if she was still alive. Her house was full of grownups and children. The kitchen was full of food. The kids sat in the back room, a very tiny room, at a long table. There were about ten or more kids there or so it seemed at the time. I remember it was an older home and I found that fascinating. There were a lot of antiques about and a lot of old people, at least so it seemed to a child. That was the only visit to my great-grandmothers that I remember. She died in 1962 so I must have visited her more than the one time.
GRANDMA BECKY'S LIFE WAS FULL OF LOVE, SERVICE
By Roy P. Stewart
"I am not much of a writer," Mrs. Margaret Lansford Phillips said in a letter from Pittsburgh, "but I want to tell you about Grandma, Mrs. Rebecca Cacy Patrick, who died last week.
"She will not be in history books but she was the type needed to build a new country, and a new state. A hard working, God fearing woman who lived each day in service to her Lord and who taught her children that same faith, that same purpose.
"It was her kind of people, the everyday people who brought their moral standards and spiritual convictions to Indian Territory. They had the courage of those convictions. That is what built Oklahoma.
"Grandma Becky must have been one of the last of Oklahoma's real pioneers. She went from Illinois to the Territory in a covered wagon in the early 1880's. They were farmers, her people, and Becky could and did do a man's work. She worked hard in field or house; she never complained; her laughter made it easier for everyone else. Her main philosophy was 'just thank the Lord for a chance.'
"Becky couldn't attend school. It was too far away and there was too much work to be done. But she wanted to know what was written in the Bible. When she first looked, those words might as well have been Latin. But she learned to read, how I don't know, but she did.
"She learned to write too, using that old English script in the Bible for a pattern, and it always looked that way. Trying to read it was an experience. I wish I had saved the only letter I ever got from her.
"She took almost literally the Good Book's admonition: 'Go forth and replenish the earth.' She did her best. There are more than 200 direct descendants. She could hardly keep up correspondence with all of us who loved her.
"Grandma was a big woman - not a fat one - but big. Strong and hardy, with a broad face that showed plainly she was ready to meet life head-on, to take whatever it gave, good or bad.
"One of my earliest memories was visiting her on the farm. She was in a cotton field and as I ran down the row to meet her, she looked up. That broad Irish face lighted up as only an Irish face can - then threw back her head and laughed for joy. Raising her work roughened hands over her head she said, 'Glory! Glory be, Lord!' And shed a few tears from emotion, for that was Irish also.
"Last week Grandma went to see the Lord she served so well, and praised so much on earth. I can assure you that when she went into the Presence, she didn't back in, and she didn't go in with her head hanging down.
"No sir -- Grandma did her best for the Lord on earth. She made some mistakes but she did her best -- can anyone do more? So you will understand when I say that she went unafraid, as though greeting another loved one after a long absence. That is the heritage she left to me."
Source: Connie (Sanders) Beebe
My great-grandmother Patrick (as I knew her) was very much loved by her family. I have many photographs that belonged to my grandmother Hattie where her sisters and brother were gathered around their mother. There were gatherings where Hattie and her sisters would dress a certain theme. In one photograph they had all made a dress from towels. Another they wore Pilgram dress. One photo was of great-grandmother Patrick in bed wearing a sash and a crown. You could tell by the many photos of the clan that they were close.
I remember my great-grandmother as she lay in her bed. Her hair was white, the sheets were white and her skin was very white. I wondered if she was still alive. Her house was full of grownups and children. The kitchen was full of food. The kids sat in the back room, a very tiny room, at a long table. There were about ten or more kids there or so it seemed at the time. I remember it was an older home and I found that fascinating. There were a lot of antiques about and a lot of old people, at least so it seemed to a child. That was the only visit to my great-grandmothers that I remember. She died in 1962 so I must have visited her more than the one time.
Source: THE DAILY OKLAHOMAN, Wednesday, April 4, 1962
GRANDMA BECKY'S LIFE WAS FULL OF LOVE, SERVICE
By Roy P. Stewart
"I am not much of a writer," Mrs. Margaret Lansford Phillips said in a letter from Pittsburgh, "but I want to tell you about Grandma, Mrs. Rebecca Cacy Patrick, who died last week.
"She will not be in history books but she was the type needed to build a new country, and a new state. A hard working, God fearing woman who lived each day in service to her Lord and who taught her children that same faith, that same purpose.
"It was her kind of people, the everyday people who brought their moral standards and spiritual convictions to Indian Territory. They had the courage of those convictions. That is what built Oklahoma.
"Grandma Becky must have been one of the last of Oklahoma's real pioneers. She went from Illinois to the Territory in a covered wagon in the early 1880's. They were farmers, her people, and Becky could and did do a man's work. She worked hard in field or house; she never complained; her laughter made it easier for everyone else. Her main philosophy was 'just thank the Lord for a chance.'
"Becky couldn't attend school. It was too far away and there was too much work to be done. But she wanted to know what was written in the Bible. When she first looked, those words might as well have been Latin. But she learned to read, how I don't know, but she did.
"She learned to write too, using that old English script in the Bible for a pattern, and it always looked that way. Trying to read it was an experience. I wish I had saved the only letter I ever got from her.
"She took almost literally the Good Book's admonition: 'Go forth and replenish the earth.' She did her best. There are more than 200 direct descendants. She could hardly keep up correspondence with all of us who loved her.
"Grandma was a big woman - not a fat one - but big. Strong and hardy, with a broad face that showed plainly she was ready to meet life head-on, to take whatever it gave, good or bad.
"One of my earliest memories was visiting her on the farm. She was in a cotton field and as I ran down the row to meet her, she looked up. That broad Irish face lighted up as only an Irish face can - then threw back her head and laughed for joy. Raising her work roughened hands over her head she said, 'Glory! Glory be, Lord!' And shed a few tears from emotion, for that was Irish also.
"Last week Grandma went to see the Lord she served so well, and praised so much on earth. I can assure you that when she went into the Presence, she didn't back in, and she didn't go in with her head hanging down.
"No sir -- Grandma did her best for the Lord on earth. She made some mistakes but she did her best -- can anyone do more? So you will understand when I say that she went unafraid, as though greeting another loved one after a long absence. That is the heritage she left to me."
Source: Connie (Sanders) Beebe
My great-grandmother Patrick (as I knew her) was very much loved by her family. I have many photographs that belonged to my grandmother Hattie where her sisters and brother were gathered around their mother. There were gatherings where Hattie and her sisters would dress a certain theme. In one photograph they had all made a dress from towels. Another they wore Pilgram dress. One photo was of great-grandmother Patrick in bed wearing a sash and a crown. You could tell by the many photos of the clan that they were close.
I remember my great-grandmother as she lay in her bed. Her hair was white, the sheets were white and her skin was very white. I wondered if she was still alive. Her house was full of grownups and children. The kitchen was full of food. The kids sat in the back room, a very tiny room, at a long table. There were about ten or more kids there or so it seemed at the time. I remember it was an older home and I found that fascinating. There were a lot of antiques about and a lot of old people, at least so it seemed to a child. That was the only visit to my great-grandmothers that I remember. She died in 1962 so I must have visited her more than the one time.
GRANDMA BECKY'S LIFE WAS FULL OF LOVE, SERVICE
By Roy P. Stewart
"I am not much of a writer," Mrs. Margaret Lansford Phillips said in a letter from Pittsburgh, "but I want to tell you about Grandma, Mrs. Rebecca Cacy Patrick, who died last week.
"She will not be in history books but she was the type needed to build a new country, and a new state. A hard working, God fearing woman who lived each day in service to her Lord and who taught her children that same faith, that same purpose.
"It was her kind of people, the everyday people who brought their moral standards and spiritual convictions to Indian Territory. They had the courage of those convictions. That is what built Oklahoma.
"Grandma Becky must have been one of the last of Oklahoma's real pioneers. She went from Illinois to the Territory in a covered wagon in the early 1880's. They were farmers, her people, and Becky could and did do a man's work. She worked hard in field or house; she never complained; her laughter made it easier for everyone else. Her main philosophy was 'just thank the Lord for a chance.'
"Becky couldn't attend school. It was too far away and there was too much work to be done. But she wanted to know what was written in the Bible. When she first looked, those words might as well have been Latin. But she learned to read, how I don't know, but she did.
"She learned to write too, using that old English script in the Bible for a pattern, and it always looked that way. Trying to read it was an experience. I wish I had saved the only letter I ever got from her.
"She took almost literally the Good Book's admonition: 'Go forth and replenish the earth.' She did her best. There are more than 200 direct descendants. She could hardly keep up correspondence with all of us who loved her.
"Grandma was a big woman - not a fat one - but big. Strong and hardy, with a broad face that showed plainly she was ready to meet life head-on, to take whatever it gave, good or bad.
"One of my earliest memories was visiting her on the farm. She was in a cotton field and as I ran down the row to meet her, she looked up. That broad Irish face lighted up as only an Irish face can - then threw back her head and laughed for joy. Raising her work roughened hands over her head she said, 'Glory! Glory be, Lord!' And shed a few tears from emotion, for that was Irish also.
"Last week Grandma went to see the Lord she served so well, and praised so much on earth. I can assure you that when she went into the Presence, she didn't back in, and she didn't go in with her head hanging down.
"No sir -- Grandma did her best for the Lord on earth. She made some mistakes but she did her best -- can anyone do more? So you will understand when I say that she went unafraid, as though greeting another loved one after a long absence. That is the heritage she left to me."
Source: Connie (Sanders) Beebe
My great-grandmother Patrick (as I knew her) was very much loved by her family. I have many photographs that belonged to my grandmother Hattie where her sisters and brother were gathered around their mother. There were gatherings where Hattie and her sisters would dress a certain theme. In one photograph they had all made a dress from towels. Another they wore Pilgram dress. One photo was of great-grandmother Patrick in bed wearing a sash and a crown. You could tell by the many photos of the clan that they were close.
I remember my great-grandmother as she lay in her bed. Her hair was white, the sheets were white and her skin was very white. I wondered if she was still alive. Her house was full of grownups and children. The kitchen was full of food. The kids sat in the back room, a very tiny room, at a long table. There were about ten or more kids there or so it seemed at the time. I remember it was an older home and I found that fascinating. There were a lot of antiques about and a lot of old people, at least so it seemed to a child. That was the only visit to my great-grandmothers that I remember. She died in 1962 so I must have visited her more than the one time.
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