Katherine Patricia Minor, 81, passed away Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2015, in her Idaho Falls home, from natural causes.

Patricia lived a full life that included raising her three children, pursuing a career as a high school guidance counselor and traveling to places such as Spain, California and Arizona. She was gentle, intelligent, hard working and had a wonderful dry sense of humor. She will be sorely missed by her family and wide circle of friends.

Patricia was born May 8, 1933, to Aloysius Patrick and Mary Beatrice Lavery in Pocatello. She attended St. Joseph's Catholic School and then Pocatello High School, where she was active in track, journalism, debate club and pep club.

After high school, Patricia enrolled in Idaho State College, where she was active in the Alpha Chi Omega Sorority. She majored in history and also took the courses necessary to become a high school teacher. Upon graduation in 1955, Patricia and three friends moved to Las Vegas, where all four young women had found jobs as teachers. She often talked about that year as being one of the most exciting of her life because of the wonderful shows she and her friends were able to see.

Patricia returned to Idaho and in 1960, finished a master's degree that prepared her to work in the field of counseling.

In 1963, she married Briggs and they lived in Beaumont, Texas, where he was stationed for his work and where their two sons, Mike and Paul, were born. In 1966, the Minors returned to Idaho Falls, where they raised their family.

After her children were in school, Patricia returned to work as a guidance counselor, at first at two local junior high schools, Central – OE Bell, and then at two high schools, Skyline - Idaho Falls High School, where she remained until retirement in 1992. During those years, she traveled to visit two of her children in Spain, New York and California.

In retirement, Patricia stayed as busy as she had been as a working woman. She and Briggs became "snow birds" who traveled south for the winter in their Airstream trailer and then later, lived in a small home in Yuma. They had an enviable dual life, divided between spending late spring to early fall in the temperate climate of Idaho close to their sons and grandchildren and spending fall to spring in the warm, dry winters of Arizona. There, they golfed, read numerous books (he, mysteries and she, literary novels) and made many friends with whom they socialized and traveled.

Patricia had always had a creative side which was demonstrated in quilting but in retirement (particularly during the winter months in Arizona), she became very involved in creating beautiful greeting cards with a variety of mediums including stamps, embroidery and watercolors. She also started creating scrap books with photos of memorabilia of her family.

In Idaho Falls, Patricia was an active member of Friends of the Library and participated in Christ The King prayer group. She spent lots of time with her son, Paul, and his wife, Valerie, doing things like taking walks and going out to restaurants. Patricia took numerous classes that she enjoyed immensely including exercise and line dancing at the senior center and lectures through Friends for Learning. She played bridge and pinochle and regularly, met with two different coffee groups.

She is survived by her daughter, Denise (Alex Milgram) of Chico, Calif.; sons, Paul (Valerie) of Idaho Falls and Mike (Helene) of Boise; and grandchildren, Nicholas, Joshua, Melissa and Sarah of Boise, Nathan Milgram of San Luis Obispo, Calif., and Max Milgram of Chico.

Patricia was preceded in death by her husband, Briggs Minor.

Funeral Mass will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 29, at Christ The King Catholic Church, 1690 E. 17th St., with Father Jose Ramirez celebrant. Burial will follow at Fielding Memorial Park Cemetery in Idaho Falls. A visitation for family and friends will be held from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. today at Buck-Miller-Hann Funeral Home, 825 E. 17th St.

Condolences for the family may be left at www.buckmillerhann.com.



Published in Post Register Jan. 28, 2015