Patricia Ann "Pat" Johnson von Borstel
Patricia Ann “Pat” Johnson was born on September 18, 1929, in Johnstown, Pennsylvania and died on Monday, February 1, 2021, in the Dalles, Oregon. She survived cancer, pneumonia, stroke and COVID 19 before passing peacefully at the age of 91. She joins her beloved husband George William von Borstel who preceded her in death by 12 years.
The youngest of four children, Pat was the only daughter born to William Johnson and Mary McIntosh Johnson of Portage, Pennsylvania. Her grandmother Vallie McIntosh also lived in the family home and shared in her early years. Pat attended Catholic school and church with her mother. She looked up to her older brothers and loved to tell stories about them. She helped her father in the family’s confectionary store and remembered serving gallons of ice cream the day World War II ended. Pat also drove a taxicab during this time and said she once had to drive a man far into the country, but that she always carried a pipe wrench and moved it out from under the seat so it would be handy if she needed it. She chose teaching as her profession and left home after high school to attend Indiana State Teachers College in Indiana, Pennsylvania.
Home economics was Pat’s course of study at college during the week, but she lived to dance on the weekends. She loved all the music of the day and claimed that drummers were the greatest dancers because they had the best rhythm. She joined a sorority, made lots of friends and celebrated spring break at east coast hotspots. She and her girlfriends would smoke cigarettes and perm each other’s hair. They took pictures of themselves in fashionable swimwear and dressed for evening outings. Pat was always very stylish in her dresses and suits with matching hats, handbags, and shoes. She learned to sew her own garments and practiced her cooking skills on her parents. Pastries and desserts were her specialties.
After completing her bachelor’s degree, Pat worked as a seamstress at a dry-cleaning shop and taught school for a couple of years. She left her first teaching position when she discovered and challenged the school principal about being one of two women not to receive a salary increase for the coming year. She was told single women with fathers to provide for them didn’t require an increase. She promised to find another position and she never returned. Instead, she applied for positions while spending her summer with her eldest brother Bill, wife Louise and their small children living and working for the Forest Service in Dufur, Oregon. When talk at an interview in Albany turned to unkind references about the rural folks in Eastern Oregon, she decided to take a position offered in John Day and join them.
Pat first met her future husband when the parish priest in Dufur invited her to visit the von Borstel family farm near Kent, Oregon. As she and Fr. Dominic prepared to leave, George met them at the car and offered to transport Pat in the future. She would often visit the farm and grew to love the boisterous family. She learned farm cooking, housekeeping, and gardening skills from George’s mother and sisters. Pat was a good student and a perfectionist, and she followed instructions and methods to the letter. She would expect the same of her students and future children.
George proposed after only four months and the couple married on June 11, 1955, at St. Alphonsus in Dufur. They honeymooned at Niagara Falls and visited Pat’s family and childhood home before settling into farm life. George farmed sections of family property while Pat managed the house and garden. Together they would fill their home with furnishings, modern appliances and six children. Pat also took care of the landscape, cooked for harvest crews, drove trucks to the elevator, spent many hours painting and papering their 1918 farm home, substitute-taught at Sherman Union High School and kept the farm financial books. She was a member of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church and Altar Society in Grass Valley, Oregon, and the Sherman County Historical Society. She will be remembered for her cinnamon sweet roll twists that she served at family and community events.
In her final years, Pat moved to Flagstone Senior Living in the Dalles where she enjoyed independent life with many past friends and neighbors from the county. She then transitioned to the memory care unit after her stroke. She was beloved by the staff at Flagstone.
Pat leaves behind daughters Judy (Butch), Beth (David) and Nancy and sons Alan (Judy), Stuart (Carol) and Brian (Debbie) as well as 13 grandchildren and eight great grandchildren. Her children and grandchildren will continue to embody her fighting spirit and quick wit.
A private funeral mass will be held, a public graveside service may be attended at 2:15 pm, February 27, 2021 at Grass Valley Cemetery with a reception immediately following at the Grass Valley Pavilion.
The family suggest donations be made in Pats memory to the Sherman County Historical Society, PO Box 173, Moro, OR 97039