Nicolle Pata
5 February, 1942 - 17 August, 2008
Resident of Danville, California
Nicolle passed away at San Ramon Regional Hospital after a long battle with Breast Cancer. While she had a BA in Home Economics and worked for several years at the San Ramon Valley Times, her greatest passion was her family, friends and serving the Lord.
She is survived by Robert Pata, her husband of 40 years, son Nathan Pata, daughter Annsley Hiles and two grandsons, Brendon and Timothy. She is remembered by many family members and friends, both in California and in Pennsylvania, where she was born and raised. Her life left a heart print on everyone she met.
Instead of flowers Nicolle asked that donations be made in her name to one of her favorite ministries.
HealthQuarters Ministries
3620 West Colorado Avenue
Colorado Springs, CO 80904
I wanted to do something special for Nicki. I started looking for pictures and I'll share my find here.
Nicki and her family moved to California before I knew her well. It wasn't till after her mom died that she drove across the country in her little VW by herself that we became reacquainted as cousins and then friends, and that friendship and love grew over the years.My mom became her second mom... or so it seemed.
From the very first, I thought Nicki was the most beautiful woman..both inside and out.. she really was.
More pictures brought back a flood of memories of the many times she came to visit us. She wasn't afraid to fly.. I was terrified at the thought. She seemed to take it all in stride..She came to my children's weddings and to meet my grandchildren, and I told her one day I'd fly when one of her children got married. She called one day and announced Annsley would be married the following April. I remember feeling frozen when she said I needed to "figure out how to get on a plane and fly" by the next year. I was determined to do so as I am a woman of my word. It was good for me. I asked my boss if he knew any good psychiatrists to help me with my various phobias, and he directed me to Anna, a psychiatric social worker who worked with me along with my pastor Vince for a full year and prepared me to get on that plane. I was ready.. tears in my eyes as I stepped over the threshold onto the plane...and then decided I could do this.. earned my 'wings'.. met the pilot who congratulated me for my courage.. and I did it!! I can climb high places now and no fear on bridges.. all because Nicolle made me promise to fly when one of her children got married. I owed her a lifetime of thanks for helping me face my phobias head on.
My mom loved her very much. She would always welcome her with open arms when she came to visit. For my Mom's 80th birthday, she was there and helped celebrate and helped plan the celebration too...she was our sister.
Nicki and I both had a love of genealogy. We worked together and shared a ton of information over the years.. and pictures too. We have together compiled a huge depository of Best family history. When she discovered she had cancer and went to Denmark, she called me just to tell me I could use her password on Ancestry.com while she was out of the country.. I did. I was so awed that she thought of ME when she was facing cancer~ I'm sure it would have been the last thing on MY mind..but not Nicki.. she was generous to a fault.
Her generosity was bigger than the state of Alaska! Y2K had us wondering if we would be able to afford the things we would need when/if the power went out for who knew how long.. and she sent me a check to help me buy toilet paper.. something we laughed about later..it was so funny.. I didn't buy tp for the next year!I could never repay her and she knew it. She just had love and a generous spirit no matter what she did. I want to be like that. She was so special to me.
She always understood when I failed. There was one year I sent the Christmas box in JULY! I didn't even remember what was in it and later hoped it wasn't something that had gotten rotten or stale..oh.. ugh.. all I knew was I HAD to get that box out and couldn't seem to get it to the post office. I'm slow at lots of things and always have been. It didn't mean I didn't care or love my California family..it was just that I was slower than most people. Sometimes I did accomplish things believe it or not! She always understood and never held it against me.
I treasure the little craft book she sent me about a month ago. It had a note attached that said it was for Gramma Camp. How I wish she had been able to have her own Gramma Camp for her grandchildren. I know she would have been so much better than I. I am thankful that God let her have Brendon and Timothy too. She would be a fabulous grandmother for them.I really needed more time. My health hasn't been the greatest, and when I should have gone to see her, there were fires in her area and I have asthma. A few weeks later she had a birthday celebration for her son Nathan, and after that seemed to go down hill faster. It was at about that time that she asked me not to come yet. She said she'd only be able to visit for about 2 minutes and that would be it.. that she was needing rest and sleep. We agreed that talking on the phone was probably better.. we had each other's undivided attention. I cherish those calls. They always lifted ME up, even as sick as she was then.
She told me that she had watched the movie The Bucket List. I asked her if she had a list and she told me she wanted to go up in a hot air balloon but couldn't because of her oxygen which she had on all the time. I told her I'd made a list too, and a ride in a hot air balloon was one of my first items on the list. I was going to try to do it and videotape it and take pictures to send to her of my experience. I just wish I could have done that for her before she left us.
I, like so many others, have been blessed by just knowing her. She made a huge impact on my life.. and I am so glad God put us together as cousins...friends... sisters.
I'm sad that she's gone from this world, but I know I'll join her one day and it'll be a glorious reunion!!!
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