Remembering tender moments with mom.

Some of our best moments together can be traced to every state my mom Pat lived in, but

Montana and Iowa take the lead. Chicago carries good memories for me because I was born

and raised there.Chicago is a special place, special city with great people doing great things.

But for Pat, Chicago was a mix of both wonderful and painful. When we lived together in

Cedar Rapids, IA from late 2018 until the beginning of 2020, we had some of the best times

together. My brief medical setback actually brought us closer together. We visited our favorite

breakfast and wine shops, antique shops and grocery stores in Iowa. We took a road trip in

Iowa that she really enjoyed , a town called Guttenberg, founded pre civil war. Iowa is oddly

a place I’d imagined we would ever live, let alone grow closer together, but we did. Montana

is where we continued to foster that closeness, even before Iowa, by the many visits I made

there to spend time with her and helping her with whatever she needed. She was a wine

connoisseur of sorts. Some really memorable moments was having dinner with her at the

Grand Union Hotel in Fort Benton, MT. Sipping on wine. We drove from Bigfork, MT, where

she lived, to Fort Benton on a few occasions when I visited her. The Grand Union Hotel in

Fotr Benton, was one of Pat’s favorite towns in Montana. It had a special vibe like no other

small town she encountered. The combination of the Missouri river that runs through Fort

Benton, and the beauty and warmth of the hotel, with it’s historical features, the quiet nature

of the residents, and the delicious gormet meals of the hotel, filled her heart with joy. She

would transcend into a state of sheer peacefulness when she was there. I was especially

comforted in knowing she had a place she could truly call home. In addition to reading, she

was a fan of Asian movies. We watched some of her favorite Korean films, delighting in the

stories being told from the Asian experience. She always found patterns of truth about the

corruption of governments and the greed existing all over the world, but mostly and always

that of the US. She would always keep me abreast of current world events while making

intelligent and striking parrallels between US history and current day economic and social

disasters within and outside the US. When ever I would see her name pop up in my email

inbox, I knew she came across something big, something serious, and something that needed

immediate attention. Pat was my intelligence analyst; I could always count on her to deliver all

the facts of a media source, and what the media fails to report, versus what’s being reported.

She would call out their bullshit over and over again. Something I learned later in my life, is

that my mom is a country girl at heart. She frequently said she lived a full life. I will and do

already miss our time together. At the end of her life one really wonderful memory I will have

forever and cherish is when we both read to one another. The last book we started, but sadly, we were not able to finish because of her rapid declining health, was War and Peace, by Leo

Tolstoy. Tolstoy was one of the many writers she admired. Pat taught me so much from

following my heart in love and career, to politics, culture, and how capitalism in particular is

the root cause of everything wrong and everything evil in our society. Capitalism was often a

theme in many of the conversations she had with people, and among friends and family, because she felt very strongly about its devastating effects. She hoped her views and

opinions would help educate people, not alienate them. But for those who may have been

offended, she kept right on speaking out on matters she believed needed to be exposed. She

wasn’t afraid. She yearned for a better world. She wanted a safer and happier society for

children, the young and old alike. She cared about climate change, and equal and better

income wages for working people. I always hoped she would write a book. She was like a

library. She could tell you anything about every subject imaginable. I hope she knows she

accomplished one important goal with me and that was inspiring me to read and to read more

often, so I too will understand our world and what to be cautious about. We often joked a bit

seriously, of our desire to live abroad together. Although we never had a chance to plan for

our escape out of the US, we always managed to find our way back, meeting eachother with

love, peace and compassion for one another, every step of the way.

Patiricia Louise McIntosh was born on December 1, 1936 in Great Falls, MT

and died on July 28, 2023. She lived 86 years. She is survived by her daughter,

Jean Helfer, and her grandchildren Alexandria Hodges and Jasper Weller.

Patricia spent most of her years in Chicago, Il. She worked for the University of

Chicago as a secretary in several di1erent departments in the university, and did

medical transcription at various times in her life. She then moved to New

Mexico where she retired. Toward the end of her life, she went back to

Montana, and lived there until she died. She was most comforted by the big sky

and mountains of her state home. Her favorite hobbies was horses, and reading.

Patricia was a loving friend and mother. She was generous and kind. Smart and

witty. She was especially known for her fierce efforts in fighting for better

income wages. She will be remembered for her intellectual greatness, her

activism and most of all her loving heart. We miss her dearly and will cherish

her memories forever

We lost in Pat a loyal friend and a tireless fighter for working people. She was deeply concerned about the direction her country is taking and expressed her fears often and vigorously, but always with a smile and a laugh. I told her many times that she was the happiest pessimist I knew.

I disagreed frequently with her critical analysis only to find that she had the deeper insight and that her predictions turned out right.

For many years Pat and I were neighbours in Taos and together with our common friend Betty Eirickson we liked to explore the countryside with day trips and an occasional picnic. So many good memories.

May she have peace.