BOMBER MEMORIAL
PATRICIA JEAN "PATTY" SCHWEIZER REHBEIN ~ Class of 1951
August 2, 1933 - January 8, 2010
Gresham resident Patricia "Patty" Jean Schweizer Rehbein, 76, died Friday, January 8, 2010 in Vancouver, WA.
A funeral service was held on January 14, at Bateman Carroll Funeral Home. Interment will be at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Greshamm OR.
Patty was born August 2, 1933, in Caldwell, ID, to Max and Delmar McKee Schweizer. She was the oldest of nine girls
and lived as a child in nearby Nyssa, OR. Her father worked in construction, and the family lived in various places in Central and Eastern Oregon and in Washington. Patty graduated from Columbia High School in Richland in 1951.
On August 23, 1988, she married James "Jim" T. Rehbein in Reno, NV.
Patty moved to Gresham, OR in 1967. She worked as a bookkeeper for Metro Metals for 23 years, retiring in 2008.
Patty enjoyed watching sports and was a devout Oregon Ducks fan. She enjoyed dancing, the Pendleton Round-Up, attending the annual family reunion and traveling to places such as Hawaii. She loved spending time with her family, and her activities and travels often included one or more of her sisters and their husbands.
Her sister, Marsha Schweizer Core, preceded her in death.
Survivors include her husband; son, Bill Zogg of Troutdale; daughter, Nancy Baker of Vancouver; 7 sisters, Joanne Schweizer Bright, Sue Schweizer Goss, Maxine Schweizer Parker, Diane Schweizer Rosieri, Pam Schweizer Williams, Marcia Schweizer Maes, and Margie Schweizer Gribble; three grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.
Memorial contributions can be made to My Sister’s House, P.O. Box 305, Troutdale, 97060.
Bateman Carroll Funeral Home is handling arrangements.
Guest Book from Bateman Carroll Funeral Home
Message from husband Jim:
Never on a Tuesday but always on a Wednesday.
The first time I saw Patty, I knew she was the one for me. It was a Wednesday night. I saw her come into the place I was at. I had my eye on her and when she was dancing I cut in and we danced together the rest of the night. We loved to dance! I played hard to get! I told her I would meet her at the same place the following Wednesday. I didn't show up. I knew who she was but she didn't even know my last name so I knew I could find her again. But the following week I did show up and so did she. We knew it was love!
About a year later on a Wednesday, April 23, 1988 we were married in Reno. It had to be on a Wednesday! April 23rd was a Wednesday and and my birthday is on the 23rd of the month so we knew it was the perfect date. I always wanted to be able to remember the date!
Patty was my rock.. I didn't do anything until she said Jump. She took care of everything. She was always the first one up in the morning, made the coffee, had the house warmed up and had my clothes layed out. She would wake me up and tell me to get ready. Sometimes I tried to get away without shaving if I had shaved late in the day. Somehow she always knew when I would try to get out of shaving which was when ever I could. I would hear her from the other room "ake sure you shave and tuck your shirt in. We gotta go."
Many times I would be ready and then waiting for her. She would come into the kitchen where I was waiting & reading the paper and say "What do you think? Does this look good on me?" I always said "Yes, it looks fine." and then before I knew it she would be back with something else on and ask me again. "How does this look?" And sometimes there was a third time!!!
As long as I've known Patty she never had a hair out of place. I remember when we were first married, she would get her hair done, come home and ask me what I thought. I said "Did you get it done?" I thought it looked just the same. She always looked perfect!
Her pants and blouses were always ironed and when she wasn't able to iron for some reason I learned how and did it. And of course all of mine were too!! She took such good care of me. I always did whatever she wanted and went wherever she wanted to go. Sometime I would say do you want to do this or that and she would say "Maybe not now/" and then one of her sisters would call and before you knew it we were going somewhere with them. In the 22 years we have been married we only went on three vacations by ourselves. Most of them included some or all of her family.
When we were first married we were both struggling financially. We joined hearts and hands and resources and together we worked and saved and turned that around. Shortly after we were married Patty went to work for Metro Metals. Her reason she told me was that Vic needed her help. She worked for Vic for 20 years. It was her home away from home. She treated everyone there like family. She finally retired when she was 75.
She kept talking about retiring but it was hard for her to leave. I finally had to lie to her to get her to retire. She always said she wanted to retire before I did. I came home one day and told her I had given my two month notice. She said "You can't do that before I retire" I said "I'd advise you to give your 2 weeks notice." A few weeks later she gave her notice. I gave my notice and fessed up to my little lie. I knew it was the only way. We retired on the same day.
Patty always gave money to anyone who ever needed it even with my objections at times. She had such a generous heart. Sometimes someone would come to the door like the Girl Scouts. I would answer the door. I would give them a bad time and ask "Do you have a license to sell those" then yell up the stairs "Call the police, someone is selling without a license" Patty would come around the corner and take over and say "What do you have, hon? Of course she would always be over generous in her buying.
I like to work on zigsaw puzzles. Patty didn't. I would get a puzzle done but most of the time there would be one piece missing! Pretty soon, Patty would come in and say "I finished your puzzle!
She was neat in everything she did... Even tho her car is 4 or 5 years Old it's almost like new. She even puts a towel on the floor boards so the mat doesn't get dirty and if I ride with her she makes me get one to!!
Patty was a confidant to all. Sometime she would be talking on the phone and I just knew it was about SOMETHING. I would ask her what's going on and she would say "Oh, I'll tell you later!" Then it would be: "I forgot!"
She was my rock and my life!! I don't know what I'll do without her!