Bettie Francis McIlveen (aka Pat Patterson) passed away November 23, 2025 at her home at Tapestry Senior Living in Tallahassee, Florida. She lived on this earth for 101 years.

Bettie’s life was marked by living in many different places--from San Diego, CA to Norfolk, VA, to Tallahassee, FL and many places in between--but her roots were in Kansas. Bettie was born in Stafford, KS on January 10, 1924 to H. Franklin “Pat” Patterson and Hattie Patterson, née Huffman, and lived on and off for many years in the Coldwater and Wilmore areas. Both her parents, Franklin and Hattie, are buried at the Coldwater Cemetery. Bettie attended schools in Battle Creek, MI, San Diego, CA, Stafford, KS and graduated from Coldwater High School in 1942. She studied to be an LVN at Clairmont Mesa College (San Diego), and took Medical Aide training at Part Jr. College.

She married Marcellus E. “Bill” Kerwin on February 4, 1943, a successful radio announcer and personality, well known during his time in the Kansas City area. They had two children together, Bryan Kerwin, who survives her in Quincy, FL, and Sharon ‘Cheri’ Rose Rigney, née Kerwin, who predeceased her in 2000.

September 4, 1964, she married William McIlveen, a Chief Petty Officer in the Navy. She worked at the naval intelligence office in San Diego while Bill served 3 tours of duty in the Viet Nam war. They were together until Bill’s passing in October 2006, enjoying several final years together taking group tours around the country, and visiting family.

Bettie had a strong sense of civic duty and arguably was most proud of the awards and recognition she received throughout her years for numerous volunteer positions with a wide variety of organizations. A brief catalog of her many roles: volunteered as a Den Mother for both of her sons, and as Girl Scout Leader for her daughter, serving 11 years as leader and 6 years on the Girl scout Camp Committee. She was a Charter and Life Member of the Comanche County Fair Board; served as Chairman of the Advisory Board for Southwest Kansas Area Agency on Aging (SWKAAA) and as a member of Subdistrict VI for many years. She was a Silver Haired Legislator. She wrote the Wilmore News column in the Western Star for several years. She was a member of OES #226 in Great Bend, St Marks Episcopal Church in Medicine Lodge, Research Club & the BPW, all of Coldwater. She was selected as BPW’s Woman of the Year in 1988.

Born during the roaring 20s when horse-drawn wagons were more common than model-Ts, surviving the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl, and outhouses in Kansas winters (when crumpled pages of the sears catalog served as toilet paper), two husbands who went through two wars, witnessing the birth of space travel and the evolution of computers, the internet and AI, and even avidly adopting email (as an octogenarian) for perpetuating the scourge of chain letters and the pre-cursor to today’s memes, Bettie McIlveen moved with the times, saw dramatic changes, and remarkably kept up a positive attitude up to her final days, always enjoying a good laugh. She is already deeply missed by her two sons, Bryan Kerwin and Francis ‘Frank’ McIlveen, as well as by eight grandchildren, numerous great-grandchildren, and a growing cohort of great-great-grandchildren.

Her funeral service will be held on Monday, October 12, 2026 at 11 am at the Kansas Veterans Cemetery at Fort Dodge (11560 U.S. Highway 400. Fort Dodge, Kansas 67843).