Patricia Withers

BURLEY – Patricia Louise Brons Withers, 95 years young of Burley, passed away Monday, Nov. 13, 2017, in Nampa, Idaho.

She was born in Racine, Wisconsin, to Fredrick “Fred” and Lorene Brons on April 30, 1922, the second oldest in a family of five.

Patricia was a curious and bright person and at a young age she found that she had a zest for life and extreme curiosity about how other people lived their lives…so much so, she fancied herself a modern-day Nancy Drew, girl detective. She was a voracious reader and some of her stories she told were from her eavesdropping on other peoples’ conversations; whether she was on the street-cars or just walking down the street. She loved her summers in Wisconsin with her large family of aunts, uncles, and cousins, spending the days on a wooded island they rented every summer. She graduated from high school and went on to college in Chicago, Illinois, to become an English teacher. Recognizing that this wasn’t her passion, she decided to embark on a trip with her best friend to Mexico City when she was 24 years old.

During the Great Depression, her father, Fred, a developer, lost most of everything he had in Chicago and moved his family to Texas where her Uncle Richard Brons convinced her father to purchase an orange grove as a business venture. While the family settled there, Patricia started working in the newspaper business writing a “social column” in the local newspapers. She met and fell in love with Winfield Clay Withers (Windy), who also was in the newspaper business and they married on Dec. 25, 1951, in Harlingen Texas. The husband-wife team started many small town newspapers and later sold them. Their son, John Zachary Withers, was born in 1956 and their daughter, Gabrielle Mary, was born in 1959. Their careers took them from Texas to Nampa, Idaho, where Windy went to work at the Idaho Press Tribune, when it was in Caldwell, and Patricia became a full-time housewife and mother. Patricia volunteered for the March of Dimes every year at the Catholic Church in Caldwell, and just about anywhere else. In 1971, her family moved to Burley, Idaho, so her husband could take a job at the South Idaho Press. She continued to be a housewife and raise her two middle-school children. She volunteered at church and at various things that came up around Burley. She lost the love of her life in 1978, and, although she never remarried, she had a very full and busy life.

She was active in the St. Therese Little Flower Catholic Church and loved walking to our local library. She also worked at the Salvation Army for about ten years, all the while saving money for retirement. Mom “retired” and enjoyed her life and friends in Burley. She met wonderful lifelong friends at the library, through church, and through the senior center while volunteering to help seniors with taxes. She moved in with her daughter, Gabrielle, and her grandson for the last five years of her life. Patricia outlived her entire family and is survived by her son, Zachary; her daughter, Gabrielle; her grandsons, Nicholas (Nick), Evan, and Colin; and many beloved nieces and nephews.

A funeral Mass will be celebrated at 2 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 21, at St. Therese Little Flower Catholic Church, 1601 Oakley Ave., in Burley, where friends may call one hour prior to the service. Burial will follow at the Pleasant View Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, please make a donation in Patricia’s name to the Burley Public Library, where she spent many happy hours. She will be missed by many.

Arrangements have been placed in the care of the Rasmussen Funeral Home of Burley.