Pat was one of my most influential mentors during our years together on the Primary Board. My life has surely been blessed by her gentle tutoring , and her contagious enthusiasm for music, for learning and for life in general. I do not recall ever hearing a negative or pessimistic comment from her lips. She inspired a “can-do” attitude amongst the members of the Primary Board – even among those who claimed to have absolutely NO talent for music! They learned that not only could they DO IT, but they could ENJOY IT, too!
I remember what fun we had together as we practiced the Open House Workshops. She even drafted family and friends to watch as we practiced so that we would have some genuine “audience participation” and responses. As skilled a musician as she was, she always sought to improve and to be prepared in every possible way.
Her approach to teaching the gospel with music has blessed children around the world. I know, because I have utilized her ideas and methods with children and their leaders in Chile, in Mexico and even in the humble huts of the San Blas Islands. That is only a tiny sampling of the far-reaching ripples of her influence, because I am certain that many other board members have shared the principles and love for music that Pat shared so selflessly with us.
She taught us to “Sing it Again and Again” with such inventiveness that we all gladly sang. We sang it again with a sign (loud, soft, boys sing, girls sing, etc.). We sang it again with harmony or with an instrument. We sang it again as we moved with the melody or with the rhythm. We were delighted with the results when we learned to sing it again, but never louder than BEAUTIFUL.
I don’t know if the concept “When I Move, I Learn” was original with her, but her enthusiastic implementation of that concept was impossible to resist. And it produced long-lasting results. We “put the rhythm in our feet, put the rhythm on our heads, put the rhythm on our knees,” put the rhythm wherever the children could suggest as a possibility. She made very musical experience a delight and has left a legacy of music in Primary and in my heart that will endure for many years to come.
In addition to her musical gifts, Pat’s wonderful, friendly nature made it easy to know her and love her. Pat has so many great friends because she, herself, is such a wonderful friend to so many. I am grateful to be numbered among those whose lives have been blessed by her and I look forward to the day when she will again invite me to “Sing it Again.”
Love, Ann & Ron
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