Janice Patten

Janice Lynn (Mead) Patten, a resident of Lockhart, Texas, passed away at home in the early morning hours of Wednesday Oct. 19, 2016 in the company of her sons after a long and hard-fought battle with cancer.  She was 62.
Janice was born on Aug. 23, 1954 in Hays, Kan. She moved to Austin, Texas at an early age and graduated from William B. Travis High School in 1972.  After w

orking as an emergency services dispatcher for the City of Austin, she moved to the Rio Grande Valley in 1980, where she lived in the city of Rio Hondo for most of her life. In spite of the enormous effort, stress and time involved with raising two ornery boys, Janice still managed to find time to work at Rio Hondo Elementary as a reading teacher and volunteer at the Rio Hondo City Library for a number of years.
Later she started her own business, running a successful residential and commercial cleaning service for almost two decades.
Janice was a genuine person who allowed her positive mental attitude and kindness guide her actions in life.  In the face of hardship she never failed to keep her eyes on the horizon; she always managed to find the silver lining in tragedy and kept an optimistic outlook in any situation.  She lived her life by the mantra, “The glass is half full.”
Janice’s honest and sweet personality was deeply endearing to all who were fortunate enough to have known her.  The kind words and beautiful smile she always had ready for family and strangers alike lifted spirits and spread hope and love wherever she was.  She had choice words for the negative people she encountered as well but she usually waited until they were out of earshot and never thought of them again.
Janice loved being outside; she was an avid bird watcher throughout her life and enjoyed maintaining her gardens, both vegetable and flower.
She liked walking for her newspaper on weekdays and having it delivered on lazy Sundays.
Janice enjoyed sewing, quilting, and knitting; throughout her life she made countless quilts, afghans, and blankets as gifts for friends and family, usually to commemorate a birth.  Later in life she took to bead-craft, making beaded crosses, bookmarks, and jewelry as gifts.
In the bustle and haste of fighting cancer what troubled her the most was that she wasn’t able to make a beaded bookmark for everyone she knew.
Janice is survived by two sons, Russell Earl Patten and Samuel Frank Patten III; one grandson, Gunner Solomon Patten; brother Donald Paul Mead; five nieces: Michelle Lea (Mead) Nations, Rebecca (Mead) Armermann, Janice (Mead) Ballenger, Mary Mead, and Christina Marie Askew; one nephew, Brandon Scott Mead; six grand-nieces, four grand-nephews, and best friend and “sister” Jackie Williams, of Lockhart.
She is predeceased by her parents Betty Jo (McElmury) Mead, Emmett Earl (Eddie) Arnold and her brother Reynolds (Rennie) Edward Beane.
The memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 30, 20166 in the pavilion at Garrison Park, 6001 Manchaca Rd, Austin, Texas 78745.  Everyone whose life was touched by this beautiful woman is welcome to attend.
In lieu of flowers please pay it forward in kindness to people in your life in Janice’s memory.  The family wishes to express their deepest gratitude to everyone in Janice’s life that made it rich and full of love; the wonderful children – now adults – who she helped to learn to read, the clients from her cleaning business who turned into beloved friends, all the neighbors turned into family, the passionate and compassionate healthcare professionals who looked after her, the strangers she traded smiles with on her walks and lastly the community of Lockhart, Texas who in just a few short years made her feel so welcome and loved that she called the city home.
“The Glass is Half Full.”