PATRICIA ANN BRAATEN

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PATRICIA ANN BRAATEN

(née CUTHBERT)

Patricia Ann Braaten passed away Friday, October 20, 2023 in the Kelowna General Hospital with her daughter, Tracey Pugliese, and grandson, Dominick Pugliese, holding her hands when she took her last breath.



Pat was born December 28th, 1935 in Westhope, ND. Her family was Canadian and lived near Pierson, MB, but the only midwife for miles was in Westhope, ND, across the border.



She started elementary school in Elva, MB, and a few years later, the family moved to Lavington, BC, where she finished her high school education in Vernon, BC. After high school, her first job was a switchboard operator at the Okanagan Telephone Company.



As a child, Pat loved riding the family horses and working in the barn with her dad. On Saturdays she and her sisters were expected to help clean the house while her mother baked with what Pat described as the radio up so loud you could hear it all through the house.



After seven years in Lavington, the Cuthbert family moved back to Manitoba and Pat got a job in the telephone office in Oxbow, SK. It is here she met and married, Bruce Braaten. Son, Erroll, was born in Oxbow, SK with Jeff, Tracey and Patrick all arriving in the early 1960s when the family relocated to Sarnia, ON, for Bruce's career.



The Braaten family settled in Brandon, MB, in 1967. Once the kids were all in school, Pat went to work at the YMCA in their gym and swim program. She went on to work with YWCA, worked for the Brandon General Hospital School of Nursing and got her Business Administration Diploma at the age of 46.



Pat was a woman of strong faith which helped her through the many tragedies she suffered throughout her life. She was a revered member of the Redeemer Lutheran Church and Bible study groups both in Brandon and Vernon where she relocated in 2008 after Bruce's passing. Pat was always a phone call away and had a great impact on many people in her lifetime.



In 2018, as her health started to decline, she moved from Vernon to Kelowna to live with her daughter and grandson. It is here she enjoyed having constant attention and companionship for the remainder of her life.



Pat was predeceased by her sons, Erroll in 1977, and Jeff in 1987, husband, Bruce in 2008, her sisters, Erla in 1998, and Mary-Lou in 2005, and son-in-law, Philip, in 2015. She is survived by her daughter, Tracey, grandson, Dominick, son, Patrick (Doreen), grandsons, Ty and Joe, granddaughter, Sydney, sister, Sylvia, and many nieces and nephews.



Interment of Pat's ashes will be in Brandon at a later date.

As published in Brandon Sun on Oct 28, 2023