Pat Videen sang beautifully. The staff at Ecumen Parmly LifePointes remembers how she would push her wheelchair down the hallways always leaving a song in her wake. She was a larger-than-life personality who dedicated herself to bringing joy to others.

Pat died May 31, and her funeral was June 11.  On Monday Parmly held a memorial service for her so staff and residents could say a special goodbye. Pat had worked at Parmly as the dining supervisor and later lived there after she retired.  She loved both working and living there, and when she became a resident she served as a volunteer helping other residents.

Pat was Klondike Kate for the St. Paul Winter Carnival in 1981.  She loved singing, performing and acting in theater throughout her life.  At Parmly she sang in the choir and often was a soloist at the Sunday service.

Before working at Parmly, she operated the Red Carpet Café (now known at the Wagon Wheel) and cooked at an elementary school. When her kids were grown and she was in her 50s, she went back to school to get certification as a dietary supervisor.  At Parmly she was famous for her home-cooked meals, and once a year she prepared a traditional Lutefisk dinner for the residents.

“You have to laugh — even at the bad things,” Pat would often say. “I want people to remember me as a good God-fearing person who loved to have fun.”

Her wish has come true.  “She was an absolute delight,” said Christy Johnson, the Recreational Therapy Director at Parmly, who delivered Pat’s eulogy.

Ecumen honors you and thanks you, Pat Videen.