Patricia Marie Kirkdoffer Obituary - Visitation & Funeral Information

Patricia “Patti” Marie Cook Bird Kirkdoffer December 14, 1920 – September 5, 2020 The world bid farewell to one of the truly great members of the Greatest Generation when, on the afternoon of Saturday, September 5th, 2020 Patricia Marie Cook Bird Kirkdoffer died, just three months shy of her 100th birthday. Born on Tuesday, December 14, 1920 at 9 pm in Everett, Washington, Patti was the beloved daughter of Ralph Charles Cook and Grace Marie Smathers Cook. As she described it, “I was an only child – loved in every way.” Both parents hailed from large families, so Patti grew up in the constant company of uncles, aunts and close-knit cousins, all of whom she befriended and ultimately survived. Patti attended Lincoln High School in Seattle, graduating in 1938, and honed her impressive secretarial skills at Seattle’s Metropolitan Business College. She met her future husband, Joe Bird, on a cruise on Lake Washington arranged by her parents to celebrate her 16th birthday. Though Joe attended as the date of a close friend, he and Patti were immediately drawn to one another, an attachment that lasted until Joe’s untimely death at the age of 47. After they married, Patti and Joe raised their two children, Susan “Susie,” and Tom, born on Mercer Island in Washington State. (Sadly, Susie died of cancer in December of 2018, a loss that Patti described as almost unbearable.) A founding member of the Mercer Island Presbyterian Church, Patti’s faith was grounded in her devotion to the concept of agape love: a universal, unconditional love that transcends and persists regardless of circumstances. To know Patti was not only to love her, but also to know you were loved by her. She shared her love for family and friends freely and often, and she never ended a phone call without reminding the person on the line just how special they were to her. Widowed in 1966 with two teenaged children, Patti went to work as a secretary for the Evered Lincoln Mercury car dealership in Bellevue, Washington where she was quickly recognized for her ability to make everyone who crossed the threshold feel unique and valued. It was Patti’s distinctively warm voice in the firm’s radio ads that told listeners to have a great day! After leaving Evered Lincoln Mercury, Patti went to work as a secretary for the Boeing Company. One day her young boss, Chuck Kirkdoffer asked her if she’d be willing to join him, his wife, Sharon, and his widowed father, Noah – visiting from Chicago – for dinner and the symphony. Patti agreed and, once again, a chance encounter led to a love match and marriage. Patti and Noah were married and enjoyed an extended honeymoon that ended a year later, when Noah died suddenly of a stroke, the same affliction that took Joe. Once again a widow, Patti gratefully accepted her son Tom and daughter-in-law Barbee’s gracious invitation to join them on their land in beautiful Lobster Valley, Oregon, where they built Patti a charming chalet a few hundred feet from their doorstep. Patti immediately made lifelong friends there and was visited regularly by family and acquaintances who found her home in Lobster Valley to be a haven of good fun, deep conversation and warm hospitality. In 2013, Tom, Barbee and Patti relocated to Corvallis, Oregon, where once again Patti was blessed to live in her own delightful apartment in Tom and Barbee’s home. She was so very fortunate to be able to remain autonomous all of her days. At the end of her life, Patti expressed no fear at the thought of death. As she put it, “I get great peace knowing, through my faith, that I will once again see all those I so dearly love and miss.” Patti’s parting leaves a legion of loved ones who miss her each and every day. A service is not being planned at this time. McHenry Funeral Home is handling the arrangements. Please leave your condolence messages for the family below.

Tributes

Patricia Marie Kirkdoffer

December 14, 1920 - September 5, 2020