Elizabeth Lazar Patrick

Elizabeth "Betty" Patrick died at the Golden Living Center in Bloomington, Indiana, her residence from mid-January 2011 until October 19, 2013. She had lived previously at the home of her son and daughter-in-law, John J. Patrick and Patricia Grant Patrick. At the time of her birth, Elizabeth Lazar belonged to a Romanian family in Transylvania, a region of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire. During the First World War (1914-1918), Transylvania was a battleground where little Elizabeth "Savetuca" Lazar observed soldiers of opposing armies move through the streets of Danes (Danesh), her hometown near the city of Sighisoara. After the war, Transylvania became a province of Romania, as it is today. In the spring of 1922, Savetuca went with her family to Constanta, a Romanian city on the western coast of the Black Sea. She boarded a cargo ship bound for a long and arduous voyage to America. The adventure-filled trip included stops at Constantinople (Istanbul) in Turkey and at several Mediterranean ports before the ship crossed the Strait of Gibraltar into the Atlantic Ocean. The vessel eventually arrived at Ellis Island, the gateway to America. After a short stay in New York City, Savetuca traveled with her parents to East Chicago, Indiana, at the southern end of Lake Michigan, The family resided in a neighborhood filled with immigrants from eastern and central Europe. During the summer of 1922, nine-year-old Savetuca was on her way to becoming Betty, in pursuit of an American dream. Elizabeth "Betty" Lazar quickly learned English and excelled in her studies at school. She also maintained fluency in her first language, Romanian. Her mother Maria, Aunt Rebecca Muntean, and Aunt Elizabeth Lazar lovingly guided and protected her. Betty graduated with honors from Washington High School in 1931 and went to work as a bookkeeper for a small business in East Chicago. On August 6, 1934, Betty Lazar married John W. Patrick and moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where her husband was employed at Oglethorpe University. She had met her future husband in 1933 during his annual summer visit to family and friends in his former hometown of East Chicago. Elizabeth "Betty" Patrick joyfully settled into her new life at Oglethorpe University. Her husband was a professor in the department of physical education and the head coach of the university's football team. Her first child, John Joseph Patrick, was born on April 14, 1935. She directed her time and energy to raising her son within the tranquil and stimulating environment of a small university community. In mid-1943, Betty and her husband moved back to their former hometown in Lake County, northwest Indiana. Betty gave birth to Mary Kay Patrick, September 7, 1946, and she continued her commitment to the homemaker roles of mother and wife. She was also strongly supportive of her husband's professional ambitions, as he advanced from Director of Athletics to Associate Superintendent of Schools in East Chicago. After her husband's death in 1970, Betty worked as a teaching assistant at a Catholic elementary school in the Indiana Harbor section of East Chicago. She excelled in teaching Spanish-speaking children to read and write in English. Betty's fluency in Romanian, a Latinbased language, enabled her to quickly learn Spanish, which has many words in common with Romanian. She used her multi-lingual skills, and her childhood experience of learning English as a second language, to help Spanish-speaking children become literate in English. The school children responded to her with the same kind of love and joy she directed to them. After retiring from her job in East Chicago, Elizabeth Patrick lived with her daughter and son-in-law, Mary Kay and Jack Ragan, first in Cannel, Indiana and later in Scottsdale, Arizona. She also resided a few months each year in Bloomington, Indiana with her son and daughter-in law, John and Patricia Grant Patrick. She embraced the role of grandmother and, later on, greatgrandmother; and she never stopped being a caring and loving mother to her son, daughter, and their spouses. Elizabeth Patrick's surviving family members include her son John J. Patrick (wife Patricia) her daughter Mary Kay Patrick Ragan (husband Jack); four grandchildren: Rebecca Patrick Shipman (husband Chris) of Nashville, Indiana, Barbara Kay Patrick May (husband Jan) of Indianapolis, John Ragan (wife Ashley) of Phoenix, Arizona, and Matthew Ragan of Scottsdale, Arizona. There are five great grandchildren: Rachel Patrick (Bloomington and Angwin, California), Abigail "Abby" May (Indianapolis), Jack Ragan, William Patrick Ragan, and Lauren Kay Ragan (Phoenix, Arizona). Elizabeth Lazar Patrick is also survived by her first cousin Ray Lazar (wife Clare) of Griffith, Indiana. During the past five years, as her health and physical condition declined, Elizabeth was very grateful for the loving care and friendship given to her by Jeanne Deckard, her caregiver, and Joanne Jackowiak of St. Charles Borromeo Church, who brought Holy Communion to her weekly. Elizabeth was also comforted by the regular visits of her nephew Michael Patrick and niece Elaine Patrick Callahan of Indianapolis. She was pleased to receive cards from her nephew Frank Patrick, who resides in Liverpool, England. Her nephew and niece, Joseph Kolina (Chicago) and Mary Jo (Kolina) Kish (lndialantic, Florida), brought great joy to their Aunt Betty's by arranging for the NBC Today Show to recognize and comment on her 100th birthday. Elizabeth also appreciated the high quality of care, warmly and generously given to her, by the management and staff of Golden Living Center. Allen Funeral Home 4155 South Old Highway 37 is handling the funeral arrangements of Elizabeth Lazar Patrick. A Catholic funeral mass will be celebrated Wednesday October 23, 11:00 a.m. at St. Charles Borromeo Church in Bloomington; Father Tom Kovatch will be the celebrant. Friends may call at the church prior to the mass from 10:00AM until 11:00AM. Elizabeth will be buried next to her husband John at Chapel Lawn Memorial Gardens in Schererville, Indiana (Lake County).

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Elizabeth Lazar Patrick

May 7, 1913 - October 19, 2013