LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Patricia Beth Neu Tolleson was born on Sept. 12, 1929, in St. Helena, Calif.

Her parents were Leander Neu and Gladys Petit Neu, who owned the Little High Valley Ranch on Spruce Grove Road outside of Lower Lake.

Her mother’s family came to Lake County in August of 1856 on a wagon train from Missouri to escape the violence that preceded the Civil War. They settled on Spruce Grove Road and made a living from farming and cattle ranching.

Patricia and her three siblings lived on the ranch until their mother died of breast cancer in October of 1936, when Patricia was 7 years old.

The children went to live with their aunt in the Oakland until they were old enough to return to the ranch in 1938 to live with their father. The children attended the one room school house on Spruce Grove Road and Lower Lake High School.

Growing up during the depths of the Great Depression was difficult, but her father worked hard on the ranch to provide for his children. These hard times influenced her greatly and she grew to be very frugal and grateful for the small things.

Upon graduation from high school, Patricia worked for a year in a jewelry store in Oakland to save enough money to attend nursing school at Samuel Merritt Hospital School of Nursing.

When she graduated from nursing school with her RN, she returned to Lake County and worked at Lakeside Hospital and then a family doctor in Lower Lake and lived with her father at Little High Valley Ranch.

She married in 1955 and had three children. Patricia returned to work as an RN on the first day that Redbud Community Hospital opened in 1968. She work the night shift so she could care for her children during the day.

She continued to work nights at Redbud Hospital for almost 40 years. She tried to retire from nursing when she turned 78 but found it too dull.

She returned to nursing part-time until the age of 82, caring for patients often younger than herself.  Nursing was her calling and she cared for others her entire life.

She lived quietly in Middletown and in the last months of her life she fell ill. She died in her sleep at the age of 84 in the early morning hours on Sunday, Aug. 31, after spending the day with her close family.

She is survived by her three children, Eddie Jr. (wife Barbara) of Las Vegas, Rebecca (husband Rex) of Orange County and Wesley (wife Georgia) of Lower Lake.

She also is survived by five grandchildren, Eddie III of Las Vegas; Kyle, Rachel and Thomas McMillian of Orange County; and Wesley Jr. Her youngest sister Virginia also survives her.

She will be buried next to her parents in the Lower Lake Pioneer Cemetery after a long life of caring for her family, her patients and enjoying time spent on the ranch she inherited from her father in Little High Valley. She was deeply loved by her family and will be deeply missed.

Funeral services will be held Tuesday, Sept. 9, beginning at 1 p.m. at the United Methodist Church, 16255 Second St. in Lower Lake. Burial will follow at Lower Lake Cemetery.

Arrangements are under the care of Jones & Lewis Clear Lake Memorial Chapel in Lower Lake.

Please share condolences and memories on Patricia’s online guest book at www.jonesandlewis.com .