Patty Ann Forsyth's Obituary
Patty Ann Forsyth
(née Schwab)
Patty was born on the 3rd of March 1920 at Tacoma General Hospital to Adelta and Frederick Schwab, and for 98 years buoyed those around her with her quiet strength while pursuing her passions of life-long learning, community and, above all, family. Her early life took her from Tacoma to Centralia and back again due to the Great Depression. She was truly a child of that depression, being ever careful to watch every penny. After graduation from Stadium High School she matriculated at Whitman College in 1938. During summer break after her junior year she performed in a Lakewood Playhouse production and hit it off with another actor, Allen P. Forsyth, a B-25 pilot stationed at McChord Field. They planned to wed the following June, but Pearl Harbor intervened and Allen got orders to join a squadron headed to Kun Ming, China. The wedding was moved up, and on January 31st, 1942 they began a 60 year marriage. Their honeymoon was spent driving Allen to his deployment in Florida using gas rations donated as wedding presents. When Allen deployed, Patty drove by herself back across the country, and stopped in Houston, MN to meet her in-laws for the first time before returning to Whitman to graduate. After Allen returned from the war they lived in Florida where their first son, Peter, was born, followed a couple of years later by son Tony in Washington. Over the years Patty’s travels as an Air Force wife took her to Louisiana, Florida, Japan, Alabama, Rhode Island, Texas, Virginia, France and North Carolina. When Allen retired from the Air Force in 1968 they moved back home to Steilacoom, where they lived together until Allen’s death in 2002. Patty stayed active in Steilacoom life until 2013 when she moved to Patriots Landing in DuPont. Patty was an accomplished seamstress, superb knitter and a wonderful cook. She committed herself to whatever community she was in, volunteering at her church and the Steilacoom Historical Museum Association, regularly attending coffee groups and social clubs, and always supporting the plays and operas that had originally brought her together with Allen. She was an avid reader, played a mean game of cards, and was often in the midst of a research project for one of her education groups. She died on the 3rd of August 2018 surrounded by family, four days after suffering a massive stroke.
Patty’s life was dedicated to her family, which had expanded to include five grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. She was the last of her generation in our family, and is greatly missed. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the Steilacoom Historical Museum Association, P.O. Box 88016, Steilacoom, WA 98388.
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