Patricia Rose Matisse (95)

Rose passed away peacefully on November 15, 2024. Born to Vaudie Dawson on February 11, 1929 in Oklahoma, she lived during the Great Depression. Her mother was often unable to care for her, so spent her childhood in and out of a Catholic orphanage and on the farm of her aunt Demis.

Her intrepid spirit took her to California, where she graduated from Berkeley. Later she earned a Master’s Degree from Reed College in Portland, Oregon. The Community Colleges brought her to Spokane, where she taught English for twenty-five years.

As a passionate environmentalist, she exhibited some extreme behaviors. All winter, she wore snow suits—in her house—to avoid using gas for heat. She washed her dishes in a dishpan so she could use the dirty water for her outside plants. She never used a clothes dryer or dishwasher. Biking to work was routine, even in the snow. Sharing vegetables with neighbors was part of the love of her garden, which was once featured in the Spokesman Review. Her commitment extended to the prospect of a green burial. For several years, she was active in the West Central Neighborhood Council.

She was preceded in death by her mother, older sisters June, who lived in Spokane, and Mercedes, who lived in Texas, former husbands Theodore and Orville. She will be missed by nephews Michael (Sharon), and Richard (Brenda), niece Patty, and many friends, especially Eric, Kialynn, and Sharon.