Patricia "Patsylou" Lou Walker

Patricia “Patsylou” Walker, 88, of Great Falls, passed away Saturday, May 19, 2018 peacefully in her home. Visitation will be Thursday, May 24, 2018 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at Schnider Funeral Home. A funeral service will be Friday, May 25, 2018 at 2:00 p.m. at Hillcrest Lawn Memorial Chapel with burial to follow at Highland Cemetery. Schnider Funeral Home is handling the arrangements. Patsylou was born in the same home as her mother on September 28, 1929 in Bicknell, Indiana to Earl and Mildred (Jones) McQuirk. Our mother was a vibrant, tall, slender, young woman, who was born into a wanderlust family that moved to various homes in different cities nationwide. They moved many times from Indiana, to Cody, Lewistown, Billings, Sweetgrass and finally settling in Great Falls. Her family welded during the Great Depression and moved wherever the work was. Her parents Earl and Peggy McQuirk, along with grandparents Art and Nella Jones owned and operated the Art Jones Welding Shop on Central Ave West in Great Falls. She had three siblings, two sisters, Nancy and Sheila and one brother, Bill. She always enjoyed visiting her many nieces and nephews. She graduated from Great Falls High School in 1947 where she was active in dancing and belonged to a special club of five known as the RAYCAF sisters (Red and Yellow Catch a Fellow). They traveled together and had great antics to enjoy. She worked at the Mailing Shop on Central for several years, and then began her years as an insurance writer for Home Insurance and then Travelers. She retired and vacationed in Yuma, AZ. Patsylou married her first husband Ed Walker, an airman who was working at Malmstrom AFB on January 29, 1950. They had three children, Kim, Sandy, and Mike. She stayed home and raised her three children. After they were grown up, she went to work in the insurance industry for many years. He passed away outside of White Sulphur Springs on February 22, 1987. She met her second husband, William Watson while snow birding in Yuma, AZ and they spent their summers on Vancouver Island in Nanaimo where she enjoyed her two stepchildren and their four children and later grandchildren. Mom really enjoyed the beautiful sea on her dreamed of retirement island. Her love for knitting, quilting, cooking, gardening and painting kept her busy no matter where she lived. Her family and friends were especially loved, even when she lived far away and would send her personal quilts to many. She enjoyed sewing and getting together with the ladies of Sewing Club. Her many friends at Sewing Club will miss her smiling face. Patsylou is survived by her children, Kim Walker, Sandy Walker, and Mike (Nicole) Walker; brother Bill (Barb) McQuirk; sister Sheila (Terry) Wardinsky; and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents; two husbands, Edward Walker and William Watson; and sister Nancy Uhde.