October 16, 1938 - January 30, 2024

Patsy Ann Howell, 85, passed away peacefully Jan. 30, in Overland Park, KS, with her family at her side after a 12-year journey with Alzheimer’s. She was born Oct. 16, 1938, to Cecil and Doris Sanford in Batesville, MS, where she grew up the youngest of three. Patsy attended Mississippi College for Women and met the late Cecil Howell from Mississippi State University in nearby Starkville. They married in 1959 and moved about the country as Cecil completed Naval service and began a career with Folger’s Coffee. They lived in Little Rock, Kansas City, Cleveland, and Cincinnati as Cecil ascended the Procter & Gamble ranks.

Patsy gave birth to two sons, Tracy (1961) and Jeffrey (1963), and daughter Stephanie (1971), and led a full life raising them and making homes and close friends wherever the couple lived. She loved cooking, entertaining their Gourmet Group, traveling, and spending weekends in the family boat on Lake Erie. Cecil passed suddenly in 1976, leaving her to raise three children on her own. She chose to move the family back to Kansas City and entered the workforce for the first time, starting as a travel agent before joining the admin staff at Polsinelli law firm, where she retired in 2015. Patsy was a loving, devoted and selfless mother, mother-in-law, friend, and most of all, “Nana.” She would drop everything for a chance to be with her four grandchildren, who remained the light of her life even as Alzheimer’s dimmed the light of memory. She also loved listening to Patsy Cline and Elvis Presley, born not far from her in years and geography, and whose music was a familiar link during Patsy’s time in memory care.

Throughout her life, she was soft-spoken and polite almost to a fault but could also deliver plenty of sass or a subtle jab with the best of them, especially to her family and later her caregivers. The family is grateful for the care and attention given to Patsy by Morningside staff and especially Good Shepherd Hospice during her final days. She was preceded in death by her parents, husband, brother Robert “Sonny” Sanford, son Jeffrey, and sister Myrna (Sanford) Ford. Survivors include Tracy “Scott,” Ria (Simone), Payton, and Evan Howell of Lansing, KS; and Stephanie (Howell), Walt, Bella, and Barrett Tegtmeier of Leawood, KS.

A memorial service will be held 4:00 p.m. Friday, Feb. 9, at Village Presbyterian Church, 6 Mission Rd., in Prairie Village, KS. In lieu of flowers, memorials can be made to Good Shepherd Hospice and the Alzheimer’s Association Heart of America Chapter.