Obituaries

A Eulogy for Patricia Devine Cleveland

We are saddened to inform you that our Mother, long-time

Culver resident, Patricia “Patty”

Devine Cleveland, known affectionately as “Miss Patty” by her grandchildren, family and, many friends, died on Oct.

1, just shy of her 90th birthday, in Jacksonville, Fla., where she had resided for the last couple of years at an assisted living facility close to her daughter

Suzy’s home.

With the COVID pandemic, we plan no service and hope to gather as a family next summer to fulfil Patty’s wish that a portion of her ashes be sprinkled on her beloved Lake Maxinkuckee and the rest interred next to her late husband John at Washington Union Township Cemetery.

So, if we may, we eulogize our Mother.

Patty was born on Oct. 20, 1930 in Milwaukee, Wisc., the middle child of James T. Devine and Charlotte Gerathy Devine. The family eventually settled in Madison, Wisconsin. She contracted polio at age three, and was miraculously nursed back to health by her mother, though she was left with a faint limp that some of her tennis playing friends in later life might have noticed, though us kids learned of early on because she was an easy out on the run to first base in family whiffle ball games.

Patty attended Blessed Sacrament elementary school, where, she liked to explain, because she was a “good Catholic and followed the instructions of the strict nuns (unlike her older brother)” she was able to matriculate to Madison West High School. After graduation in 1948, she enrolled in classes for a period of time at the University of Wisconsin. With a natural calling for nursing, like her mother, Patty moved to Chicago in 1949 where she enrolled at St. Luke’s Hospital School of Nursing. She graduated in 1952, and later practiced nursing in Denver, Colo., Fort Lauderdale, Fla. and in Chicago.

While living in Chicago, Patty met John Cleveland, and they were married in Madison on June 19, 1954. They soon moved to Culver, where John was employed by his father, Chester W. Cleveland, as editor of The Culver Citizen. We children – Pete, Leslie and Suzy – followed in short order, and in 1960 they built a home on East Shore Drive where we were raised on a piece of property that was once part of the Vonnegut Orchard.

Over the years, John and Patty let it be known to a certain couple that if ever they were to sell their lake home on Maxinkuckee, please call them. The call came in 1977, with 48 hours to decide, and decide they did, though later admitting with little idea how they could pay for the purchase. They named the property “Toad Hall” from the children’s book The Wind in the Willows.

More than anything, Patty and John loved living and raising their family in Culver, and enjoyed the moods of the lake and the magnificent Maxinkuckee sunsets, which brought them much contentment. In later years, when it became too difficult for Patty to climb the stairs at Toad Hall, she moved to a condo at The Riggins in Culver and created the most welcoming home with a beautiful garden sanctuary in her back yard.

Patty was a member of St. Mary of the Lake Catholic Church, where she was the longest living parishioner at the time of her death -- a fact that she proudly noted was recognized by the Bishop by way of his personal visit in honor of her status a few years ago.

Patty was a mother of the 1960s -- a patient, sometimes frazzled Cub Scout, Brownie and Girl Scout den and troop leader, and capable field trip chauffeur in her faux wood-paneled station wagon, boisterous kids packed in rear bench seats sans seat belts in the style of the day, speeding along as she and a fellow den or troop leader smoked cigarettes and chatted on the way. She was involved in Tri Kappa and employed her artistic talents to create items to be sold at the Christmas Bazars held each year, and in later life loved the dear friendships of her knitting group.

Patty returned to nursing once her children were older, first at the Culver Academies Health Center in the summer, then full time at Millers’ Merry Manor in Plymouth. She became the In-service Nursing Director at the Plymouth facility where she trained aids and LPNS with the skills to be efficient and caring nurses. Later she became the Director of Nursing at Miller’s Culver Facility where she was employed for many years until her retirement in the late 1980s. Patty never approached anything without passion. “Patty’s Antiques” was a side business she and John enjoyed, and she filled her home with her antique items and collections, especially her Bennington Pottery. She cherished so many things: opera and classical music, a good book, and, maybe not so good, the smell of gasoline when she was filling her car and her smokes (though she later became the poster child for how quitting smoking can improve your heath whatever your age when she stopped cold turkey after a bout with pneumonia). She enjoyed Chablis wine when it was popular in the 1970s; and a scotch and water with lots ice (an obsession she conceded); a glass of milk at every meal; fresh Michigan peaches; and all sweets but especially chocolate cakes and cookies. She was a genuine “foodie” before it became fashionable. In later years we had to steer the conversation away from food, about which she could talk endlessly. Patty loved to cook and share her amazing, creative meals with friends and family. She was the most wonderful hostess and opened her homes to many over the years. Patty also loved to shop, and her shopping expeditions -- again, and especially for food -- were the basis of family legends, and where the patience of accompanying shoppers, was always put to the test. In later years, she was an avid gardener. Double Impatients were a must for her magnificent containers and window box creations. Sunflowers were also a favorite and Miller’s corn stand could never keep enough on hand for her. Patty’s yards were always filled with flowers and bird feeders. Watching her goldfinches brought her such daily joy. Patty was generous and giving but she also had a toughness to her as well. She beat breast cancer twice and never complained of the long treatments. She taught family and friends how to be resilient and move on and surround yourself with the things you love the most.

And what she loved the most was her family, including her beloved pets. She was never without a dog, and most came to her “used” before the term “rescue” became the correct term: Minnie, Leroy, Barney, Heidi, Max, Goober, Alfie, Aubbeenaubbee (a family favorite but not with neighbors because he raided their garbage cans on a weekly basis), Precious, Pumpkin and Coco, and the one and only cat, Kitty Cat. Kitty Cat arrived at Patty’s back stoop in an intense snowstorm soon after her husband’s death in 2002, and family members joked about the cat being the reincarnation of her husband, John.

But above all else Patty loved her family. According to her, we were her three “perfect kids” (an overstatement with little basis in reality). She was the most wonderful mother and brought so much love, laughter and generosity into our lives. She showered her nine grandchildren with so much special love and laughter, but probably most famously for her indulgent breakfasts of unending pancakes, syrup, bacon and sausage. We will remember forever the raucous scenes, with grandkids from ages 3 to 8, stuffing themselves, syrup and powdered sugar smeared on their faces, giddy with sugar highs amidst rich bacon cooking smells, and the family dogs energetically collecting dividends from the plates on the toddler height tables. Best of all, her grandkids were able to enjoy a childhood along the shores of Lake Maxinkuckee in the beautiful family home that she and John had spent their life creating.

One neighbor wrote recently, “I truly loved your mom so very much. I loved her spirit and spunk and her delight at things like flowers and chocolate cake and birds and Coco and Kitty Cat.” And one grandchild described her “as having a graceful approach to life.” Another family friend described her as “one in a Million” and to those who knew and loved her, she certainly was.

Patty was preceded in death by her parents James and Charlotte Devine and her husband, John. She is survived by her children Peter (Becky) of Indianapolis; Leslie Cleveland Hague (Gregg) of Winnetka, Ill.; Suzanne Cleveland Bartley (Dave) of Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.; her nine grandchildren, Wes Cleveland of Chicago, Brent Cleveland (Becca) of Minneapolis, Morgan Bartley of Denver, Taylor, Graham and Brooks Bartley of Jacksonville, Fla., Courtney Hague Raftry (Brian) of Bozeman, Mont., and Connor and Will Hague of Winnetka, Ill., her brother James “Andy” Devine of Madison, Wisc., and her sister Suzanne Moore of Aurora, Colo.; her beloved dog Coco; her longtime caregiver and friend Sandy Warner; and, her lifelong good friend Marcia Adams.

Donations in her memory can be sent to St. Mary of the Lake Catholic Church, 124 College Ave, Culver, Ind. 46511.

To our Mom — We Love and Will Miss You. Pete, Leslie and Suzy

October 16, 2020