Obituary of Patricia "Patty" Jo (Custer) Faris

God bless your heart, Patty Jo, I will miss you. Terry While her sisters sang to her, Patty Jo peacefully passed away the morning of Dec. 26, 2022 near the Christmas tree in the front room of our home. She was surrounded physically and spiritually by her husband Terry, son Brooks, daughter Megan, a son-in-law, a daughter-in-law, four grandchildren, eleven sisters and a brother. Megan told us she had just washed Pat’s face and got a slight, last smile of pleasure from her mom. One of Pat’s sisters was massaging her feet while another was massaging her arm. Megan was holding her hand and turned to an aunt to say something. When she turned back she saw her mother had quietly left. From snow shoeing in the Three Sister’s Wilderness to snorkeling in Honolua Bay in Maui and running marathons in Portland, this ended 40 years of Patty Jo fighting a kidney disease that needed Alzheimer’s and vascular dementia to deliver her into God’s hands. It was the day after Christmas. She was 73. Married to Terry at 20, they had two children, Brooks and Megan, when she was 26 and 29. After the children were born, Pat went to school and started a massage business out of our home. Because of her physical strength, knowledge and commitment to a person always doing their best, she attracted highly competitive Masters Athletes and marathon runners. I vividly remember them coming to her the day after their event, their voices crying in anguish as she worked out the kinks in their muscles so they could resume training the next day. As Brooks and Megan graduated from college and started their careers and marriages, Pat and Terry began traveling. Arizona. California. Hawaii. Mexico. New York. Rome. Venice. Florence. Pisa. Ireland. London. Paris. Athens. The Peloponnese. Madrid. Barcelona. Toledo. Budapest. Austria. When grandchildren came, they slowed their traveling and gladly committed themselves to daycare Mondays and Fridays. It was an opportunity to unabashedly fall in love with and spoil four new kids from three months until they started school. They learned to pound nails in a fort they designed and built, hose down flame spitting volcanoes, light sparklers with a blowtorch and ride the zip-line across the back yard. Pat made certain that every morning started with how many waffles they could eat, while every day ended with roasted marshmallows, a bowl of popcorn and a small hidden bag of jellybeans and licorice for the backseat ride home. She loved them with all her heart and soul. In between traveling and helping raise grandkids, and because they had a large house with a big side-yard, Patty Jo and Terry hosted family birthdays, weddings, receptions, cancer survivals, Christmases, Easters and July 4th celebrations. It was common for the police to come to the door and confiscate our last bottle-rockets and mortars. A telling activity was the baking and construction of candy coated gingerbread houses in early December. This was always followed with everyone coming over for an after Christmas party to blow up their houses to feed the winter squirrels and birds in the side-yard. Patty Jo was a driving, truly good-hearted human being who touched many people and will be missed. She was preceded in death by her parents, Dorothy “Doed" Wood Custer and Casper “Cap" Custer. She is survived by her husband of 53 years, Terry, son Brooks, daughter Megan, son-in-law Ryan, daughter-in-law Leah, grandsons Oliver, Axel, Cru, granddaughter Lucy, sisters Mary Lou, Anne, Sally, Kathy, Kitty, Susy, Michaele, Barbara, Denise, Peggy, Sheila and brother John, The families want to thank the doctors and nurses at Providence Hospital on Glisan Street for their loving care of Pat while she was there for three recent admissions. Of special note was the knowledge and support of the Hospice Team from the caring nurses that helped the Faris and Custer families bring Pat home five days before Christmas and have their last holiday together. In lieu of flowers, the families suggest donating to the OHSU Alzheimers Disease Research Center. A Catholic Mass will be held 10:00 AM, February 4, 2023 at Sacred Heart Church, 3910 SE 11th Ave, Portland, Oregon. Pat’s favorite color was pink. Consider wearing that color for the day. Stories will be told and refreshments served at 11:00 AM in the Fellowship Hall next to the church. To see Pat’s online obituary and leave a memory, see: Sunnysidechimes.com. Send RSVP to: megaloneybaloney@gmail.com