Patricia Dawn (Dalziel) Graham passed peacefully November 2, 2024,with her daughter at her side.

Patti was born on a farmhouse kitchen table in McHenry, Illinois, August 10, 1937. She experienced an adventurous and tumultuous childhood in this rural community where her cash-strapped parents put her to work singing on a table-top at a local tavern for pocket change. The eldest of four children, Patti was often responsible for her two brothers and baby sister.She told stories offun treks to the homes of aunts and uncles, baby on her hip, toddler in tow. Through genealogy research, her daughter connected with one of Patti's cousins who said, "I remember those kids—they would always come begging for food."

One of Patti's favorite memories of that childhood was the day that the siblings happened upon a rowboat at the edge of McCullom Lake. They piled in and she and her brother rowed out as far as they could before a passerby yelled for them to return to the safety of shore. When she was nine, her mother disappeared, and the children temporarily lived with extended family. Eventually, the three eldest were sent to the Chicago Industrial Home for Children. Patti's youngest siblings were adopted. She and her brother, Douglas, remained at the children's home until a loving missionary couple, Grace and Alvon Abbott,took them in. The loss of her family and the unconditional love of the Abbotts affected her decisions for the rest of her life.

Patti loved lighthouses, angels, backyard birds, and horses. But most of all, she loved interacting with children. After she had her own four kids, she volunteered at the Ottawa River School library and later worked in the cafeteria. She enjoyed that the neighborhood kids referred to her as "Mom Graham" and "Mama Pat." She was a hands-on grandma who got down on the floor and played Barbies with her granddaughters and raced cars and trucks with her grandsons. A gifted artist, Patti enjoyed crafting, drawing, sculpting, and painting with the kids.

Patti was a woman who answered the call when her children and grandchildren needed anything--A babysitter, a meal, a car, cash, a co-signer. She drove grandchildren to school and college classes, to and from jobs. She made sure they had gifts under their Christmas trees. And like her mother, most vanished during the last two decades. Some promised to reach out. Some refused. Some ran out of time. But Patti never spoke an unkind word about them. She talked of her children and grandchildren often, recounting only preciousand comical memories, and how she hoped they would visit soon. They should know that she loved them with all her heart and wishes them a lifetime of happiness and peace.

Patti put her artistic side to work as a florist at Foodtown, where over 20 years she made lasting friends.

She is preceded in death by her husband of 43 years, Ronald, her daughter, Susan Renee Rachuba, and cherished nephew, Mark Pegish, who held a special place in her heart.

She is survived by her much-loved sister-in-law, Janice Poggemeyer; daughter Michelle (Mark) Davidson and grandchildren Lindsay (James) Wend, Logan Davidson, and Luke Davidson. Great-grandchildren include Jimi, Mark, Londee, Chalie, Levi and Keighley Wend.

Also surviving are sons Christopher Royce Graham and his three children and Brian Joseph Graham and his children; and the two children and grandchildren of her daughter, Sue.

She also leaves behind many nieces and nephews, and her husband's cousins—the entire Wood family--who always made her feel loved and welcome.

The Davidson family is indebted to the care-giving teams at Franciscan Care Center, Christian Home Care and Heartland Hospice; to Father Michael Geiger, and especially to Sister Jordan Schaefer OSF, who Sunday after Sunday, made sure that Patti got to Mass in the chapel where even after Parkinson's Disease took her speaking voice, she continued to sing.

Patti asked that her services and burial be modest and private. Memorials in Patti's honor may be made to Heartbeat of Toledo No Kid Hungry or Dreams on Horseback .

Dreams on Horseback
Web: http://secure.lglforms.com/form_engine/s/pH1DjV0x1Pb8e0YIEYC5ig

No Kid Hungry
Web: http://nokidhungry.org

Heartbeat of Toledo
3950 Sunforest Ct., Toledo OH 43623
Web: http://heartbeatoftoledo.org