Patricia Ann Fenton, Funeral service for Patricia Ann "Pat" (St. John) Fenton, age 85, of Decatur will be 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday, December 10,
2024, at Fairview Baptist Church with Lael Davis Fenton officiating and Parkway Funeral Home directing. The family will
receive friends from 6:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. on Monday, December 9, 2024, at the funeral home Interment will be Saturday, December 14, 2024 at 1 PM in Evergreen Hill Cemetery, Corfu, NY. Guestbook available at www.parkwayfunerals.com.
Formerly of Binghamton, NY and Orchard Park, NY, Pat passed away on December 4, 2024, in Decatur, AL. Having no siblings, she was preceded in death by her parents, and two brothers-in-law, Joseph Fenton and Warren Clark.
She is survived by her husband of 54 years, John Fenton; six sons, Daniel Fenton (Tina) of NY, Darrel Fenton (Kaycee) of AR, Clyde Fenton (Veronica) of AR, Matthew Fenton (Terry) of IN, Andrew Fenton (Leslie) of AL, and Lael Fenton (Suzanne) of ME; brother-in-law, Joel Fenton (Marilyn); two sisters-in-law, Joan Clark and Elizabeth Fenton; 19 grandchildren; 23 great- grandchildren; and eight nephews and nieces.
Pat was born in Binghamton, NY on April 26, 1939, to Frances (Phillips) St. John and Walter Davis St. John. After graduating from high school, she attended Broome Community College where she graduated as a dental hygienist. She continued on to Cortland State Teachers College where she earned a B.S. in Health Education. While at Cortland, she met the brother of one of her roomates, John W. Fenton, whom she married in 1960. Following marriage of two weeks, her husband left the U. S. for active duty in Germany. She finished her last year of college and joined him eight months later in Germany. Without military housing, they rented an apartment from a German family. Although she did not speak German, she enjoyed coffee times and had a great relationship with her landlady.
After the time in Germany, she traveled with her husband, to Michigan for his schooling and then to various parts of New York as his job meant several moves. She practiced dental hygiene with a dentist in NY for a short time. Her desires were to use her training as a dental hygienist in a pubic school. However, the educational system did away with that service before she gave birth to the twins. Giving birth to identical twins was not only a surprise to Pat but a special learning experience as a new mother.
Teaching became her husband's occupation. It resulted in a year of studies in North Carolina and followed a couple of years later with his Biblical training for a year in Indiana. They had four children by then. A surprise call offered her husband a teaching job in the Adirondack Mountains of New York, near where they had enjoyed their honeymoon. They were led to accept this position. It was a small Christian school in a scenic area. With four young boys needing care, Pat's plan was to not work outside the home. Her plan was followed for the first seven years while her husband was teaching at Adirondack Christian School in Wilmington, NY. She even added to their four sons by giving birth to two more. With her husband's critical need for a lower elementary teacher, she came to his aid. She taught first and second grades for three years before they moved from Wilmington to Western, NY. She taught biology, health, and homemaking at West Seneca Christian School for 18 years. After retiring, Pat and her husband drove to Alaska to visit a missionary. After being accepted as volunteer missionaries, she continued her working career as an office worker and representative with Voice for Christ Ministries with headquarters in Nenana, AK.
She had accepted Jesus Christ as her Savior through the ministry of First Baptist Church of Marilla, NY in 1965. She spent 10 years at Calvary Baptist Church in Wilmington, NY, 36 years at First Baptist Church of West Seneca, NY, and 1 years at Fairview Baptist Church in Decatur, AL.
Throughout her life, besides traveling and visiting family, she enjoyed art work, sewing, and knitting, playing the flute, and in her late 60's, she started learning the violin and enjoyed playing hymns.
In lieu of flowers, the family respectfully requests memorial donations be made to Hospice of the Valley, P. O. Box 7745, Decatur, AL 35602
Local arrangements by C. B. Beach & Son Mortuary, Inc., Corfu, NY.
