PATTY MEREDITH WILLS PASSES AWAY

 

Patty Meredith Wills, Class of 1950, passed away Sunday, December 19.

She was the widow of former Fairmont West athlete Don Wills. They lived in Florida for years, once having a winter home on St. Augustine Beach and in Fairmont.

Calling hours are 4-8 p.m. Monday, December 27. Services will be 1 p.m. in the Monongah Baptist Church. Burial will be in the Rest Haven Memorial Gardens in Fairmont.

Patty also was a Fairmont State graduate and a paralegal.

Patty and Don have three children, Don, Barry and John and eight great-grandchildren. Her brother, Bill Meredith, Class of 1957, lives in Sarasota, Florida.

 

Besides Bill, Patty’s other siblings are Jack Meredith, Class of 1943, Howard Joe Meredith, Class of 1945, Bonnie Meredith, Marion Jean Meredith Riddle, Class of 1945, and Marjorie Delores Meredith Holt, Class of 1947, all deceased. Their parents were Charlie and Jane Meredith. Her Grandmother, Grace Grove Meredith, once owned Grove Cemetery in East Monongah.

 

Bill is married to Clarksburg Washington Irving graduate and school historian/alumni wrangler for reunions Roleta Meredith. Bill is a WVU engineering graduate and former Monongah High multi-sport athlete. 

 

Meredith Brothers is a Columbus business that arranges materials for bridge and road-building construction and a lot of other things. Bill and Roleta also have a home on Buckeye Lake, near Columbus.

 

I have had reunions with Bill in Florida, Ohio and West Virginia over the years. Including before or after a WVU football game in Mountaineer Field.

 

Patty and Leona Duckles Davis were joined at the hip during their Monongah High days. 

Betty Feltz, the majorette who married coach Jim Feltz, and Patty were life-long friends. 

Betty Feltz, the majorette who married coach Jim Feltz, were life-long friends. The Feltz and Olesky families, who lived a football toss from each other in Monongah, were friends for decades. My mother, Lena Futten Olesky, helped Betty adjust to married life as a young wife. After Mom passed away, Betty had a key to the Olesky house so she could check if she didn't see Dad puttering around the yard for too many days  and would call my sister, Jackie Olesky Straight, Class of 1955, who lives in Rivesville, if she thought Dad needed help.  

Leatrice Yokay Greaser, Class of 1950, who lives in Fairmont, remembers Patty’s kindness when Lea was a freshman at Monongah High. “I didn’t know where my home room was so Patty took me to Miss Timmins’ class,” Leatrice recalls. That would be Joan Timmins Malcolm, a 1943 Mannington High and Fairmont State graduate who was a biology teacher at Monongah High in the late 1940s and early 1950s who was married for 42 years to Jess Malcolm. Miss Timmins, the name we remember her by, and her daughter, Pamela Malcolm Hamlin, were killed when their car was struck by a pickup truck in Queenstown, Maryland. Joan was 68; her daughter, 41. 

Patty’s obituary:

 

Patricia Sue Meredith Wills, 89, entered eternity with her Savior, December 19, 2021. She was born August 29, 1932, a daughter of the late Charles and Pauline Meredith. She was preceded in death by her husband, of 67 years, Donald Wills.

Pat was a 1950 graduate of Monongah High School, a proud Monongah Lion, and loved watching the WVU Mountaineers play ball. She was a graduate of Fairmont State College, and a Paralegal. Pat was a proud Mother, Wife, and Homemaker.

In addition to her family, her love of the Lord was ever present, teaching Sunday School, and singing in the Choir for over forty years at Monongah Baptist Church. She and her husband Don enjoyed life to the fullest, traveling to all fifty states, fifteen European countries, and all of the National Parks except four. They also enjoyed wintering in St Augustine, Florida.

Pat is survived by her three sons Don and Deb, Barry and Kim, and John and Nancy, her brother, Bill Meredith, her grandchildren, Amy, Mike, Zac, Meghan, Meredith and Andrew, as well as eight great-grandchildren. She is also survived by her best friend Betty Feltz, Joe and Linda Lomicka, Nell Grace, Deborah Ruth, Bob Feagin, and the Engebretsons, who all helped make her life complete.

Dad told Mom he would save a seat for her in Heaven, and now that seat is occupied.

In addition to her husband, Pat was predeceased by her siblings Bonnie, Jack, Joe, Delores, and Jeannie.

Meredith Memorial donations may be made to contributions can be made to Monongah Baptist Church, 256 Lyndon Avenue, Monongah, WVA.26554 The family has entrusted the arrangements to Ford Funeral Home, R.C. Jones Chapel, 1410 Country Club Road, Fairmont. Friends and family may visit the funeral home on Monday, December 27, 2021 from 4PM until 8PM. Visitation will continue on Tuesday, December 28, 2021 in the Monongah Baptist Church, 256 Lyndon Avenue, Monongah, WV, 26554 from 11AM until 1PM. The service will be held in the church at 1PM with Pastor David Huckins officiating. Interment will follow at the Rest Haven Memorial Gardens in Fairmont. Online condolences may be made to www.fordfuneralhomes.com .