Patricia Heyer O’Brien, 97, of Sumner, died Friday morning, July 26, 2024, at Bartels Lutheran Retirement Community in Waverly.

A Celebration of Life will be held at 10:30 AM, Friday, August 9, 2024, at the Methodist Church in Sumner. Inurnment will follow at Wilson Grove Cemetery, rural Sumner. Visitation will be held from 4:00 PM – 7:00 PM, Thursday, August 8th at Becker & Son Funeral Home in Sumner and for one hour preceding services at the Church on Friday. Memorials may be made in Pat’s name to the Sumner Public Library or Sumner Daycare and Learning Center.

Patricia O’Brien was born to Claude and Frances (Vierth) Heyer on April 6, 1927, in Sumner, Iowa. She was the third of five children and grew up in Sumner, where she graduated from Sumner High School in 1945. She attended the Iowa State Teacher’s College and the University of Iowa each for a year and afterwards taught music in the Lone Rock, Iowa school.

Pat returned to Sumner and worked as a bookkeeper for her father’s lumber business, W.H. Heyer and Sons, until her marriage to Clayton O’Brien of Sumner, on March 27, 1949, at Sumner’s St. John Lutheran Church. They lived and farmed north of Sumner and had six children: David (Betty) O’Brien, Sarah (Larry) Kass, Susan (Jay) Romsa, John (Sue) O’Brien, Robert (JaNan) O’Brien, and William (Carol) O’Brien. During these years, Pat did everything from driving tractor to tending livestock to gardening and cooking, but also found time to serve the United Methodist Church in Sumner as an organist and choir accompanist and play piano in the local Hank Fritz band. She was active in the Sumner Women’s Club and Methodist Church Circle and was the first woman to be elected to the Sumner School Board in the 1970s.

After her children were grown, Pat worked part-time for Sumner attorney, Tom Murphy as a tax preparer. She was also free to indulge her love of learning, adventure and travel during these years, as she and Clayton attended Elderhostels and took other trips across the country. She had a strong artistic side, which she expressed through designing and making countless quilts for her children, grandchildren and others. She also enjoyed photography, watercolor painting and poetry, drawing inspiration from her travels as well as the world outside her window.

Following Clayton’s death on November 30, 1993, she lived on the farm until 2017 and continued to stay independent and active in the Sumner Community. She volunteered at the Sumner Elementary School and was instrumental in the start-up of the Pleasant Street Preschool. She continued to travel for many years with friends and family, and enjoyed having her grandchildren stay and spend time with her at home. She also loved reading, bird watching and putting together puzzles-the more pieces, the better.

Pat’s final years were spent at the Hillcrest Living communities in Sumner and the Bartels Lutheran Retirement Community in Waverly.

Along with her husband Clayton, she was preceded in death by her daughter, Sarah Kass; her brothers, James Heyer and Warner Heyer; her sister, Gretchen Backlund; sister-in-law, Renee Heyer; brother-in-law, Warren Backlund; and brothers- and sisters-in-law, Everett and Avis O’Brien; Mernys and John Hochberger; Lois and Richard Traeger; and Carolee and Paul Woods. She is survived by her sister, Mary (Jim) Reuter; her five remaining children, and son-in-law, Larry Kass; 21 grandchildren, and 27 great-grandchildren.