Patricia L. Stone

     In the early morning hours of August 31, 2023, during a brilliant blue moon, Patricia Louise Mathieson Stone passed peacefully from this earthly realm.

     Pat was born almost a century ago on December 16, 1923, in Cody, Wyoming to Joe and Ethel Mathieson. She had a happy childhood and grew up in California and Orcas Island, Washington where she graduated high school as valedictorian of her class in 1941. She then attended the University of Washington and pledged the Phi Mu Sorority. Pat had a brief stint as a nanny in New York City where she also furthered her education. Never a college graduate, she was a lifelong learner who instilled the expectation and desire for learning in all her children and grandchildren. 

      Returning to Orcas in 1946, she met Clarence Everette “Chuck” Stone who she married on November 7, 1948 at West Sound Episcopal Church. Over the course of their nearly 68 year marriage they had five children, who were Pat’s pride and joy. They lived in Mt. Vernon, WA, Hayward, CA, Boise, ID, Lake Oswego, OR and Idaho Falls, ID, where all five kids graduated from high school. Wherever the family moved, Pat had a knack of setting up and maintaining a loving and welcoming home. She also always found an Episcopal church to attend, and was one of the charter members of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Boise. 

     Pat worked hard caring for her children. In addition to cooking hearty meals every day, she was also an accomplished seamstress and made amazing clothes and costumes for her children. She also loved to have a good time, and was the life of the party. Chuck and Pat involved the whole family when entertaining, especially at their annual New Year’s Eve party. These celebrations offered Pat a place to dance and laugh and enjoy their many friends. This past June, she was able to fulfill her desire to dance at her granddaughter Sophia’s wedding, celebrating with the whole family. She also loved to read, bowl, golf, follow her beloved Utah Jazz, do crossword puzzles, and play games, which she nearly always won due to her extensive knowledge and trademark luck.

     Pat did eventually go back to school, and honed her skills to work for a dental office before she and Chuck retired to Salt Lake City to be nearer to their family. Pat delighted in her grandchildren and great-grandchildren and always made time for them as a wonderful playmate, proofreader, audience member, and cheerleader.

     In her retirement when she wasn’t having fun with her kids and grandkids, she became the keeper of the family’s history, detailing both she and Chuck’s ancestry back to England, France, Sweden, and parts of the U.S. She also consolidated her proud membership in the Cheyenne River Lakota Tribe in South Dakota. None of her family can remember anyone uttering a harsh word about her, and she was rarely in a bad mood. Pat was forever an optimist who had a knack for looking on the bright side. As she often said, “it’ll all come out in the warsh.”

     Even as she dealt with cancer in the final two years of her life, Pat maintained her good humor, and was smiling and laughing until the very end. A special thanks to her son Lee and daughter-in-law Wendy who so generously cared for her in their home these past two years.

     She was predeceased by her husband Chuck, her parents Joe and Ethel Mathieson, brother Billy Joe, and son-in-law Scott Ridgeway. Survived by her five children; Pam Stone, Cheryl Ann Drewes (Dave), Tina Jo Ridgeway, Lee Stone (Wendy), and Mike Stone; seven grandchildren; Cory Ridgeway (Kelsey), Conor Bentley (Mary Anne Wetzel), Damon Ridgeway (Jessica), Sophie Noonan (Stephen), Zoey, Emma, and Abby Stone; and five great grandchildren; William, Clarence, Felix, Henry, and Declyn. 

     Pat will be interred at a private family memorial at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Idaho Falls at a later date.

I live

In the hearts

In the minds

In the lives

Of those

I leave behind.

And I live

In the dreams

In the deeds

In the future

Of those

I leave behind.

I live

Because I have been

And through those

I touched

I live

• -C. Lloyd Shue