Kathy’s Korner
The Monticello News this week mourns the passing of a long-time newspaper columnist, Kathryn Patton. Mrs. Patton wrote a weekly column for The News for some 25 years, never expecting any payment, just enjoying the opportunity to write. And, I think she knew that she struck a chord wth many readers.
I have no idea how many people ever communicated with Mrs. Patton about her columns. She began writing before e-mail was commonplace,and her address and phone number were not readily handy as she lived at the time in Stone Mountain.
Some years ago she retired, although she still contributed as recently as 2001. After a while she and her husband, who actually is named Paul, not Henry as she referred to him in the newspaper columns, moved to South Carolina and quit taking the paper. I often wondered how she was doing, but we did not communicate.
Last Wednesday afternoon I received an e-mail from her cousin telling me she had died. She was 87 years old.
Then the next day, a wonderful lady who has done much for Monticello and Jasper County closed her eyes for the last time. “Nanny Ethel” as Ethel Jones was known to many died peacefully at home surrounded by family and friends.
I don’t remember exactly when I met Nanny Ethel. She summoned me one day…invited me out for a visit and a treat. Believe you me, she made the best Christmas cookes I’ve ever tasted. I hope one of her children or grandchildren …or great-grandchildren will attempt to carry on the tradition. But, I digress.
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We had a lovely visit; I don’t remember now what was on her mind that allowed me to have the privilege of becoming her friend, but I knew I’d met a remarkable woman.
It was before Christmas, and she was working on her Christmas project. She baked goods and decorated jars and made presents for the elderly and shut-in. Now, mind you, to me a healthy, busy 40ish woman, it struck me as a little odd that Nanny Ethel was doing so much for the “elderly” and shut-in. See while she wasn’t really a shut-in herself, she wasn’t exactly in her prime either. She suffered with a bad back that made it difficult to move around a great deal. But she never complained and she never stopped doing for others.
She would call me periodically and tell me she had a cake for me. I would go out and visit and leave with a tasty treat. But, I wasn’t the only recipient of her kindness, nor were her family members. Last year, when she had to struggle some with health issues, including being on oxygen which limited her time to bake, she managed to bake 83 cakes and 15 pies. The year before, she made 134 cakes and more than 100 pies. In 2002, she made nearly 200 cakes and nearly 300 pies.
Each Christmas for the last five years she made gifts for the “elderly” and “shut-in”—nearly 100 in 2000 and 2002; 82 in 2001, 72 in 2003, and 64 in 2004. She had helpers that would give her some nuts, or make deliveries, or tell her of needs.
But, Nanny Ethel, in her 70s herself, never stopped doing for others.
She wouldn’t let me do a story bragging on her. She didn’t want recognition. It was her gift from the heart, and to take glory for it would have taken away from the gift.
The last time I visited—a few months ago, before the latest health setback—we talked. The conversation turned to our faith which was not uncommon. Nanny Ethel was at peace with her Maker. She knew there was a better place, and she knew she as going there. Those she left behind are saddened by our loss. But we were blessed to know her.
I suspect the elderly and shut-in will miss their surprises this Christmas. I guess the best memorial for Nanny Ethel would be to pass along her kindness and goodness.