Patricia Caroline (Basye) Jones

Patricia Caroline Basye Jones died surrounded by her family in the Star Valley Hospital on Dec. 15 due to sepsis from and undetected infection. She was 85. The following was provided by her family.

Pat was born on June 20, 1937, in Jackson, the daughter of Ivan Bird Basye and Nancy LaVetta Timmins Basye. She had three brothers, Earl (Pat) of Tucson, Arizona, Frank (Judy) of Alpine, David Basye of Jackson, and a sister Virginia (stillborn).

As a pretty, young, starry-eyed girl of 16, Pat was swept off her feet by a handsome young cowboy from Victor, Idaho, Jewell Jones. She would spend the next 66 years as his wife.

Times were hard back then. Pat washed dishes at the Wort Hotel while she was pregnant with their first child, Terri. Donna, Casey and Brett soon followed, and their family was complete.

Neither Pat nor Jewell were strangers to hard work. They did whatever they could to provide for their family. Pat always possessed a heart for adventure and wanderlust for travel. Jewell worked for Etland Peterson Bridge Construction. They would pack up the kids and go with him on construction jobs to places like Boulder, Shoshoni, Casper and Sheridan, always returning “home” to Jackson in between each job.

Pat was a stay-at-home Mom for the first nine years of Terri’s life. When they worked for the Hansens on the Lower Bar BC Ranch, Pat cooked for the hay crew. She took the kids to the bus stop on a snow machine or with Jewell on the hay wagon. She helped warm up newborn calves by the woodstove. She was a prep cook at Crescent H Guest Ranch where she learned to hate tomatoes, after slicing so many. Like her mother, she also worked for the Wort Hotel over the years in many roles — waitress, housekeeping, wherever she was needed. She even worked at Hal’s Big O building fiberglass septic tanks.

Eventually Pat found long-term employment working for St. John’s Hospital for 18 years as a certified central supply technician. Later she worked at C-V Ranch for another 18 years as a cottage parent and later in housekeeping. She retired from C-V at 68 years of age and finally got to relax and enjoy her days at home. Pat loved to work with children, often substituting for her daughter Terri at Kid Power Home Childcare for 10 years. Pat was instrumental in caring for and supporting her grandchildren, nieces, nephews as well as great nieces and nephews. There was absolutely nothing that she wouldn’t do for her children and grandchildren.

Pat had a huge heart and freely loved her family and friends. She had a committed group of girlfriends that included Viki Dieckmann, Carol Woods, Eddie Mason, Rose White, Betty Marshall and Shea Walton. They called it the “Birthday Club” and they all looked forward to the celebrations they shared over many years as friends. Pat loved doing ceramics with Carol and traveling with Viki and Terri. With her love of travel, Pat said she could have been a gypsy. She did get to travel from coast to coast and loved every minute of it.

Pat has been described as sassy, independent, honest, hard working, devoted, loyal and a dauntless defender of grandchildren — they could do no wrong in her eyes.

She had a wonderful sense of humor. In her later years she cheated at cards with an innocent yet devious grin as if she didn’t understand the rules. You could read her mind when she was tickled about old stories and began to giggle about the mischief. She always threatened to go to the “Pub” when she didn’t like the way things were going but never did. She finally made it when Jewell was laid to rest in the Elliott Cemetery in Wilson. Afterward the whole family stopped at the Stagecoach and had one for him and old times’ sake.

Pat and her siblings were second-generation natives of Jackson, with family roots on both sides stretching back as far as 1891. Her grandfather David Elon Timmins homesteaded in Spring Gulch in 1891 and later in South Park in 1898. He was one of the first mail carriers over Teton Pass, carrying the mail sack on his back in the winter. There are many Tanner and Timmins pioneers buried in South Park Cemetery. Her grandmother May Pearl Canfield Basye came here in a covered wagon with her children and a brother. She homesteaded in 1914 on Cottonwood Creek in Moose near Jenny Lake before it became Grand Teton National Park.

We thank the Symbii Hospice staff and Dr. Sharp for their care.

Both Pat and Jewell lived in their home and were cared for by their devoted children until they passed. Their daughter Donna was her primary caregiver and lived with Pat since Jewell’s passing, the last one and a half years of her life. Richie, Donna’s husband, backed up Donna’s care and Terri, her oldest daughter, made the trip to Etna from Jackson several times a week to help as well. They will forever treasure the time they spent with their mom in her final years of life.

Pat was preceded in death by her baby sister Virginia Basye; her son, Jewell DeWayne “Casey” Jones (1959-1964); parents Ivan Bird Basye and Nancy LaVetta Timmins Basye; husband, Jewell Jones; and brother Earl Basye. She is survived by her children: Terri (John) King, of Jackson; Donna (Richie) Cole, of Etna; Brett (Mary) Jones, of Thayne; eight grandchildren, Tami (Jim) Duke, of Durango Colorado; Travis (Courtney) Lucas, of Alpine; William (Julie) King, of Jackson; Amanda (Ryan) Fredrickson, of Murray, Utah; Anna Roberts, of Billings Montana; Emily Jones, of Thayne; Madelon Jones, of Thayne; and Eva Jones of Jackson. She is also survived by step-grandchildren John Ryan (Val), of Jackson; Brandon of Bondurant; and Clint (Tanya) King, of Rigby, Idaho; and by 18 great grandchildren, Tanner, Harper, Mateo, Christopher, Spencer, Carter, Morgan, Cambri, Chloe, Cadence, Tatum, Ellie, Emma, Sam, Aly, Elyza, Ean and Ella.

The memorial service for Patricia Caroline Basye Jones will be held at 11 a.m. June 17 at the Emmanuel Bible Church, 100 Wright St., Thayne. Internment to follow at the Elliott Cemetery in Wilson.

Donations in her honor may be made to the Thayne Senior Center ThayneSenior.com/ (Meals on Wheels program) or Senior Center of Jackson Hole at SeniorCenterJH.org.

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