Patsie Ruth Knapp Obituary (1936

Patsie Ruth Knapp died in Tulsa on Tuesday, January 14, at age 83, in the presence of family. She has gone to join her beloved husband of 62 years, Jim Knapp, in the great hereafter. Born in Okemah, Oklahoma on October 1, 1936 to George Clay and Audrey Indianola Robertson, she is survived by her sister Billie Moore, of Haleyville, her sister Linda Marshall, who lives in Florida, and one brother, Earl Robertson, of Wewoka. Three sisters and a brother preceded her in death: her beloved Adolphine, known as Dot, Frankie, Nola Marie, and a brother, Charles. She is survived by two children, Tim Knapp and Terri Abel, six grandchildren: Brian Norman, Shealynn Murrell, Derek Abel, Nathan Knapp, Lindsey Knapp, Bethany Knapp, and nine great-grandchildren. Patsie attended Butner High School, Seminole Junior College, and East Central University. On December 17, 1955, she married Jim. She was a longtime teacher at New Lima Elementary School, where she could frequently be spotted as scorekeeper at high school basketball games coached by her husband. In 1979 she and Jim moved to Smithville, in Southeast Oklahoma, where she taught at nearby Watson Elementary. She was an enthusiastic supporter of the New Lima Falcons, the Smithville Braves, the Watson Tigers, and, while her son Tim was playing baseball at OSU, the Cowboys. She took Jim's side in pulling for OU in football, however. During the last three decades of her life she was an active member of Octavia Baptist Church, and surrounded by her grandchildren, whom she loved dearly. She loved taking long fishing trips and road trips with her husband, Jim-their last lengthy one, in 2012, took them all the way from Oklahoma, across the western continental United States, up the Alaska Highway across Canada, and back. She and Jim also took cruises to Northern Europe and the Mediterranean with her grandchildren and daughter, Terri. Every year, even after they'd both retired, they attended the State Tournament in Basketball in Oklahoma City, until health concerns ended their traveling days. She documented the life of her family and the trips she took with them in photograph after photograph. She loved to get out on the road with her man. Funeral services will be held at Octavia Baptist Church, Saturday, January 18. Visitation at noon, service to follow at 1pm, and a meal to be held afterward. Online Guestbook: www.bowserffh.com