She was taken from us suddenly on July 8, 2002.
Patricia attended elementary and junior high school in Veteran and had completed her first year of senior high school in Consort. Patricia was always at the top of her class, excelling in all areas of her studies.
In Grade 9 she was the president of the Veteran school students’ council and the editor of the yearbook. In Grade 10 she received the Academic Achievement Award and recently won a place in the Encounter Canada competition, which would have had her traveling to Ottawa this fall.
Patricia’s studies extended beyond the classroom. She had a great love for music and dance. Patricia had taken seven years of piano lessons and recently took up guitar.
Since the age of three, Patricia has been dancing in Tara’s Academy of Dance. This spring Patricia obtained her Water Safety Instruction accreditation and was employed at the Coronation Swimming Pool.
Patricia’s 16 years were a life of love; love of studies, the arts, swimming, family, and friendship. She is deeply missed by all whose lives she has touched.
Predeceased by her step Great Grandma Adeline Caseley; Great Grandparents Victor and Lucy Caseley, Sverre and Olive Bye and Jacob and Pauline Kary; Patricia is survived by her loving parents Howard and Susan; brother Kyle; grandparents Arnold and Muriel Bye and Bennie and Shirley Kary; great grandmother Lauga Bye; Uncle Weldon (Diana) Kary and their children Daniel, Steven, and Julia, Uncle Jaron (Lisa) Bye and their children Caitlin and Cameron, Aunt Cris Bye and her children Georgina and Lawson Beaty and Aunt JoAnne (Ken) Meents and their children Morgan, Miranda, and Carson; many other relatives and a host of friends.
Funeral services for Patricia were held on Thursday, July 11, 2002 at 2 p.m. in the Veteran Full Gospel Church with Rev. Hilde Seal of Knox United Church, Consort, Ab. officiating.
Tributes were given by Patricia’s Mom Susan and friends Janelle Owens, Kristen Hedley, Richelle Grover and Aileen Machell. Leader of song was the Trinity United Church Choir of Coronation, with Linda Schetzsle playing for the congregational hymns “Lord of the Dance” and “Just A Closer Walk With Thee”.
Charlotte and Pat Gilmer sang a duet “Farther Along”. Special recorded selections “I Hope You Dance” and “There You’ll Be” were also played.
Patricia’s father Howard and brother Kyle carried the urn from the sanctuary before proceeding to the Veteran Cemetery for interment.
Honorary pallbearers were the members of Patricia’s dance class, Danielle White, Emily Witherden, Aileen Machell, Kaylie Jurgens, Lindsay Smith, Richelle Grover, Janelle Owens, Kristen Hedley, Janine Funk, Sheena Machell, Renee Hetherington, and Cindy Ulseth.
A time of fellowship and refreshments was held in the Veteran Community Hall prepared and served by the Veteran United Church Women.
Should friends desire memorial contributions may be made to the Patricia Bye Award of Excellence, c/o The Veteran School, Box 649 Veteran, Alberta TOC 2SO.
Our Princess “Patricia”
Recorded and played at the service by Susan
On May 29th 1986 our blonde haired, blue-eyed, nine pound one ounce baby girl was born.
When Patricia was suppose to arrive there was a terrible snowstorm with about three feet of snow but maybe the weather was too cold or the accommodations were too cozy so Patricia decide to wait for another three weeks, two inductions and 29 degree weather.
She grew nicely and started to talk in sentences at 11 months. She continued to talk with a vengeance but remained on her butt and just wouldn’t walk or crawl. Howard and I knew we had an intellectual on her hands, perhaps a politician. But finally on July 2nd, Patricia stood up and walked across the front room, bent over and picked up a toy and came back across the room. We now knew we also had an athlete!
Patricia continued to flourish and every day with her was a joy. She loved to sit in the chicken pen, holding silkie chickens and petting their heads. Later on she would grow to love a little hen, which she named Speckled Friend, who is still with us after 12 years.
When Patricia was four her brother arrived on the scene. Pash as she is known to many spent long hours being a mother hen to Kyle.
We decided to see if Patricia would like to dance as she always was singing and dancing around the house. We enrolled her in lessons at three years of age. She was a natural! So tap dance became a regular weekly event.
Pash would start school in 1992 and soon showed her academic ability. In grade 2 she received a B in music and so the next year she sang like a bird in the festival and received an A.
That was Patricia, nothing but the top was good enough. She continued to receive awards for top marks throughout elementary school.
In Junior High she continued to go for excellence. In grade 9 she topped the provincial math achievement test with a perfect score of 100 per cent. We were very proud of her.
During that summer Patricia and I would journey for five weeks to the Coronation Swimming Pool. Pash would swim her heart out and try and achieve 24 laps in 14 minutes.
Finally she succeeded and the next summer she made her dream of being a lifeguard.
She was so excited to teach. On one of our walks she commented to me that she was going to be the best teacher ever and I believe she would have.
Patricia is loved by many. Her babysitters, Marilyn and Rick Deagle, Michelle and Danny Price, Sheryl Ferguson, Deb and Dale Kary, Jean McCuaig and the Webb girls, Shauna, Colleen and Theresa.
Her music teachers, RaeAnne Smith, Mary Reynolds and Charlotte Gilmer. Her dance teachers, Miss Tara and Mrs. Rockey. And all of her school teachers who played such an important role in Patricia’s development.
We want you to know that Patricia’s accomplishments were not only moulded by the good family values and morals but the people in our three communities that touched her life.
Our hope is that Patricia has touched each of your lives and she will be remembered by all of you.
We want to let you know that when we weren’t busy at our jobs, we were at home with our kids. Working on the farm they always were by our sides.
Patricia loved to pack a lunch and ride with Howard or I in the combines, eating, laughing, talking about daily plans and future plans and listening to the radio. When we weren’t driving the combines, Patricia would still want to go and would climb up and have a visit with Jaron, Mr. Mike or Curtis.
Patricia looked forward to working in the fall so that we could go on vacations to somewhere hot and wet. She loved to lay on the beach achieving the perfect tan without too many freckles appearing.
Daily chores on the farm sometimes were met with complaints. Once Patricia got outside she would do the chores and then let out our goose “Lucky”.
An hour would be spent talking to Lucky and hosing off her feathers.
Patricia had a very strong commitment to family. She loved everyone in our family and let every individual know her love.
She was a fierce competitor without letting anyone know. She achieved many great things with a gentle humbleness and with great compassion for the others who maybe didn’t do as well. Patricia’s dream was to become a doctor.
We know she would have been one too and a great one! It would have made us so proud to have said that is our daughter – “Dr. Patricia Bye”.
We feel very cheated to have had Patricia taken from us. She was such a good person, mature beyond her years.
When we told Patricia the ground rules we could rest assured that she would listen. She was ready to take giant steps into everything, but as Howard would tell her – “Baby steps Pash, Baby steps”.
She was so excited to be driving and have some independence.
She was very, very careful and wanted nothing better than to be safe and make us proud. That is what I think hurts so bad.
Howard, Kyle and I would like to thank our family, friends and from the communities for their love and compassion.
Time has short changed Patricia but she did a lot of living in her life. We like to think that if we had another kick at the cat that Patricia would pick us to be her family again.
In closing, I would like to say that Patricia was our perfect princess even though we teased her about acting like a princess. She will always be a princess to us. We will miss her deeply. Flap your wings Pash and fly high girl, FLY HIGH.
LOVE YOU!
Mom, Dad & Kyle