Patricia Maude Harcey

Patricia Maude (Mullin) Harcey, 83, of St. Charles, died Sunday, June 3, 2012 at her home.Pat was born in Hutchinson, Minnesota on October 24, 1928 to the late Harold and Maude (Preston) Mullin. She was the second of five children and the oldest girl. When she was in second grade, the family moved to Elgin, Minnesota, to work on Grandpa Preston's family farm. After graduation from Elgin High School, Pat attended Winona State Teachers College, graduating in 1948 and moving to Lake Crystal, Minnesota for her first teaching position. Teaching was Pat's passion and a couple years later, she moved to St. Charles to teach elementary grades and serve as elementary principal.Pat met her dearly beloved, Stanley Harcey, at the newly-formed St. Charles Bible Church. In 1954, she took a road trip to Massachusetts where she married Stan at a Fort Devens Army Chapel. They returned to Saratoga Township and together founded Harcey's Dairy Farm and raised five young farm hands.Pat had at least two full-time jobs. She tirelessly fulfilled her role as farming partner- feeding farmhands, running to the implement dealer, carrying heavy stainless steel milk cans from the cowbarn to the shiny bulk tank and even driving tractor. She made her homestead resembled a park more than a farm yard, and her vegetable garden fed her family of seven all year-round. Her second job was raising her "5B's" who were all born within six years and four months.Her passion for learning and teaching definitely extended to her own children who learned to read and print the alphabet at her knee, ordered bird cards from the backs of the Cheerios boxes and read whole entries from the shiny new set of 1967 World Book Encyclopedias. An entire generation of Sunday School students perched on the edges of their seats and learned to love Scripture as "Aunt Pat" made Bible stories come to life and Bible principles make sense. Pat's AWANA clubbers learned their lessons word-for-word under her teaching and listening. And her Vacation Bible School students sat transfixed with mouths gaping open during Missionary Stories they will never forget.When Pat became a Grandma and Great-Grandma, her adoration of children reached an apex. She hosted girls' tea parties and insisted on a large sandbox filled with trucks and tractors. She read stories over and over again, pointing to the words so the little ones understood how to read. Several of her grandchildren attest that "Grandma was my best friend." And as they, too, grew up, Grandma was a willing resource on home management and child rearing.Pat is survived by her loving and appreciative husband, Stanley Harcey of St. Charles, MN; sister, Virginia Mullin of St. Charles, MN; and brother, Ken Mullin of St. Paul, MN; daughter, Brenda (Scott) Carlson of St. Paul, MN; son, Brenton (Kim) Harcey of Cambridge, MN; son, Bruce (Molly) Harcey of Nampa, ID; daughter, Beth (Rob) Griffin of Crete, IL; son, Brian (Kimberly) of Traverse City, MI; and sixteen grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.Pat was preceded in death by her parents, Harold and Maude (Preston) Mullin, and two brothers, Vern and Russell Mullin both of Elgin, MN.Visitation will be held from 4-8pm on Tuesday, June 5 at Hoff Funeral & Cremation Service in St. Charles. A time of visitation will also be at St. Charles Bible Church on Wednesday from 12:30-1:45 prior to the service.Funeral service will be held at St Charles Bible Church, 631 West 6th Street, St. Charles on Wednesday, June 6 at 2:00 with burial at Saratoga Cemetery, near the family farm.Memorials may be made to the St. Charles Bible Church Children's Programs and AWANA Clubs at the church. Please share a memory of Pat with her family, sign the online guestbook, and view her video tribute when it becomes available online at www.hofffuneral.com.
Tribute video can be found at: videos.lifetributes.com/310307