Born: August 1, 1925 Died: December 2, 2023
Patricia Ruth Nieters was born on August 1, 1925 in Dallas, Texas. Her mother remarked it was one of the coolest Augusts they had ever seen in the area.
Patsy, as she was known when little (Patty as an adult), was born to Francis Joseph Nieters, her father, and Elsie Margaret Traub (Nieters), her mother. When she arrived, she already had an older brother, John Robert Nieters, who went by Bob. Bob was five years old when Patsy was born. Frank went across the street that day to tell Bob, “Great news, you have a brand new baby sister!”, to which, Bob replied, “That’s terrific. I have to run home and tell Mom!”
Growing up, Patsy was cared for by a sweet nanny named Billie. Patsy loved Billie and often played with Billie’s young son, Junior, whom Patsy called “Yunior”.
Patsy and the family lived in Dallas until the fall of 1929 when the great depression hit. They decided to move to Moline, Illinois, to be near family. Both Frank and Elsie were from that state. When they left Dallas, they put all their money into the bank. On the way to Illinois, all the banks closed, leaving them with nothing. They had to stay with relatives until they could move out on their own after a few years.
When Patty turned 11, she contracted typhoid fever. She was in the hospital for several months, and nearly died. At one point her fever hit 109 degrees, which even loosened her teeth. She always remembered the ice baths they put her in, in an effort to treat her. With little money, her dad, a painter, painted the entire hospital as barter for her medical bills.
In 1943, Bob was drafted into the Army and sent off to war. He fought in Italy and France. Thankfully he survived and then came back to the U.S. in 1946.
Later in 1943, after Patty graduated from Moline High School, Frank, Elsie and Patty followed the path of so many other Midwesterners, taking Route 66 out to Southern California. Frank, who had family there, told Elsie it was only for a visit, but he had no intention of going back, and they never did.
In November of 1943, they reached the ocean, took their first look, then immediately settled into a place in the heart of Hollywood (later they moved to Burbank). For 18-year-old Patty, this was heady stuff.
She rather quickly found a job in the studios. Not the movie star kind, but instead the cartoon studios. Patty’s new job became her career, working in the ink and paint department of several cartoon production companies for over 30 years. Among them was Disney, where she painted part of Fantasia. Later, she worked at Warner Brothers, where she painted Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and several other Looney Tunes characters. By the 1960s, she was painting the Flintstones and Jetsons, followed in the 1970s by the Archie Comics TV cartoon series, and other shows of the era.
In 1951, she met and married Gordon McFadyen, a career Navy man. He whisked her off to Norfolk, Virginia and Boston, Massachusetts, where they spent four years until he retired from the Navy in 1955. Patty loved living in Boston with all its colonial history and sites. She was an avid reader of U.S. and world history. She particularly loved reading about the U.S. Presidents and their families.
After the Navy years, Patty and Gordon settled back in the L.A. area. They built a house in Woodland Hills, south of the boulevard. In 1958, their only son, Jay Douglas McFadyen, was born. Later the family also lived in Winnetka and, during Jay’s high school years, in a condo one block from Chatsworth High School.
Jay left in 1976 to attend the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Now retired, Patty and Gordon visited often, loved the area, and, in 1977, relocated there to a newly built house.
Gordon passed away in 1985. Patty stayed in Colorado, a state she dearly loved, until 2017, or nearly 40 years in all. She made countless friends during those years, and enjoyed playing bridge and rummy tiles, taking care of her house and yard, shopping, eating out, and traveling the United States. She eventually saw all 50 states.
During her Colorado years, Jay met and married Susan Mary (Burns) McFadyen in 1981, and, in 1983, 1984 and 1987, Patty’s three grandchildren, David, Ryan, and Meredith McFadyen, respectively, were born. Patty dearly loved them all and visited them often in California for Halloween and Easter, her two favorite holidays. The family of course also often visited her in Colorado.
In 2017, with failing eyesight and other health issues, Patty agreed it was time to move back to be near family in Southern California, where she moved into a wonderful assisted living facility called Aegis Living of Granada Hills. Her timing was perfect in that, starting just before her arrival, four beautiful great granddaughters began arriving.
June Margot and Shelby Helene McFadyen were born to Ryan and his wife, Magdalena, and Carmen Jaye and Sylvie Kaye Hawks were born to Meredith and her husband, Jonathan. They all live in Porter Ranch. In 2016, David married his wife, Diane. They live in Morro Bay.
Patty’s final years at Aegis were filled with wonderful care there, and with countless outings to restaurants, to the various families’ homes, and playing with and getting visits from the great granddaughters, who knew her lovingly as “Gigi”, which stands for great grandma. They, and the entire family, will miss her greatly after her passing at the age of 98 ½ on December 2, 2023.
A memorial service will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Monday, June 17, 2024 at the Shrine of Remembrance “America the Beautiful” Chapel, 1730 E. Fountain Blvd., Colorado Springs, CO 80910. Private inurnment will take place at the Shrine of Remembrance Mausoleum, Columbarium of Roses.