Obituary of Patrick L. Lumsden

Born 9/8/1951 in Tacoma, WA and passed away 5/5/2010 in Tacoma, WA. Patrick is survived by his loving wife of 38 years Patti (Smith); daughter, Michelle Lumsden; grandson, Ethan; numerous extended family and friends. Viewing 1-3PM Tuesday 5/11 at Lakeview Chapel, 4606 108th St. SW, Lakewood, WA, service to follow at 3PM. Arrangements by Edwards Memorial Center 253-566-1008. When we think/talk about “Uncle Pat” we think/talk about: *John Wayne movies!!! *Uncle Pat’s “uniform”…jeans, short sleeve-round necked-solid color-pocketed t-shirt…with a pack of cigarettes in the pocket. *His many lighters. *His great bear hugs upon coming and going. *His love of ANYTHING with motors, batteries or engines! From remote control cars, to the little kids ride-in jeep that he bought Michelle when she was 2 or 3, to his numerous cars, boats, truck, his snow-ski… *His adversion to yardwork…but when we did talk him (bully him) into it, the ONLY thing he was willing to use was a chainsaw…(it’s a male Lumsden thing)…no matter if it was trimming a hedge, a fruit tree, a rhody or a juniper…a chainsaw was his only tool of choice! *He loved the idea of having Michelle experience “life” as he said it…as soon as possible, so there we were, up at Hood Canal, dipping for smelt when she was all of just a couple weeks old…driving her little kids Jeep around Grandma and Grandpa Lumsdens back yard at 2 or 3, riding on the back of his motorcycle at 4 or 5… *His love of pheasant spaghetti, shrimp cocktail, Nanaimo bars, deviled eggs, fried egg sandwiches, beef barley soup, smoked oysters… *His love and creativeness of BBQ-ing…almost anything! *His great laugh…he laughed out loud and with his whole body!!! *Giving his dad and brother wrestling neck holds (instead of hugs)…and rubbing the tops of their heads… until they called “uncle!” *When he wanted something from his mom, we’d watch him slide right up next to her, put his arm around her waist, his head on her shoulder and go “mother…..” *Always the instigator…at birthdays and holidays…he’d have his dogs, Oly or Nick, start tearing open the gifts…then getting the kids involved…and pretty soon the living room at Don and Garnets was full of flying paper, barking dogs, screaming grandkids...and Pat would just be sitting back, with that smirk on his face, knowing that he had started the chaos… and enjoying every minute of it. *His love of fireworks…the more the better, the louder the better…and the bigger the better! *His great love for boating, fishing, crabbing and hunting…he had soooo many great stories to tell of his adventures…he’d have us laughing until we were crying so many times after he’d act out all the parts of the stories for us… *How he could gut a fish, clean a bird, a deer… but could not stand the sight of blood or a needle for himself or his loved ones…dogs included. *The Yakima area hunting trip…that turned into a stolen truck, walking down thru the forest and into town w/the dog…finding a hotel manager that took pity on him…. *Pat and Patti have always had an “OPEN DOOR/OPEN HOME” policy for family and friends… in need of a place to stay, whether it be for a day, a week, a month…didn’t matter what the reason was, they were there for everyone! *His cross country road trip, to the Daytona Beach/Cocoa Beach area…oh my gosh, what great stories came out of that one trip! *His recent Alaska Fishing trip…the trip of a lifetime for him. *His road trip to California, after high school, with friends…more great stories. *His visits and times spent with the Hemions…his 2nd family really. *He loved technology…and always wanted the biggest and best TV, stereos…anything with a remote! *Teaching his teenage nephew how to use a wet dishtowel to “slap” people on their bare legs, butts…using his mom as the first “model”…she’d yell “Patrick….stop….that’s enough!” Unfortunately, it’s something Brett continues to do to this day! *Rabbit hunting on San Juan island with this extended family members….geez, what stories! *Boating with Uncle Al and Auntie Marge. *Giving “noogies” and tickling EVERYONE! *The pride and love and excitement in his eyes and his voice the night Michelle was born…showing her off for the first time…to his folks and family friends Evelyn and Pete. *When Ethan was born….Pat said “Alright now…I can buy another motorcycle in a few years…for Ethan of course!!” *Pat’s growing up years were filled with weekends and summers with clam digging, camping, fishing, hunting with family and friends. As normal, Garnet would have the camper/trailer packed and ready to go, so that then Don got home from work, he’d take a shower, change clothes, get the dogs and kids loaded up and away they would go…whether it be east of the mountains, to the ocean, to the Toutle, Cowlitz or Kalama Rivers or various campgrounds around the state…it was the great family time for them. *Pat would ALWAYS give his Dad a bad time about the direction of how Don cut the lawn with the riding lawnmower…always telling Don that “if you just up the speed a little more, take the corners a little faster, it would look better”! Don would answer back, “Don’t get any ideas…leave my mower alone!” *Whether it was on his back patio, in a campground, by a river, in his folks backyard…you could always find Pat, sitting in a chair, legs crossed, baseball cap on, with a cigarette in one and hand a beer/drink in the other….in full conversation/story telling with anyone who came by. *His love of his Camaro! It was always “a work in progress…his “someday” hobby. The story that he often told, was that he “was keeping that car, and would rush to get it restored if Michelle turned out to be ugly, so that if needed, she could use it as “Michelle’s boy magnet”! Obviously that was not the case!! But we all know that he was very excited to be able to start on this long awaited Camaro restoration project…and was working with his cousin Don to get going on that. *He was always the “little kid fun instigator”… If the kids were running thru the sprinkler…Uncle Pat ALWAYS turned it up higher and higher…and Pat sat back with that smirky smile! If the kids were playing in the blow up vinyl pool…Uncle Pat AWLWAYS filled it up to the top and showed them how to step on the sides and watch the “current” from the water flowing out act like and undertow and watch them fly out…and Pat sat back with that smirky smile! If the kids were playing with the box of golf balls in the closet...Uncle Pat ALWAYS would pick up the box and dump it out on the living room floor…and listen to the kids scream in delight…and his dad complain of the mess…and Pat sat back with that smirky smile! If the kids were enjoying the blow-up colored bunnies at Easter, that sat on the back of the couch looking out the front window…Uncle Pat ALWAYS took them down, punched them, wrestled with them…the kids did the same…until they deflated….and grandma would have to say “BE CAREFUL WITH MY BUNNIES!”…and Pat sat back with that smirky smile! If they were picking flowers or veggies or strawberries out of the garden…Uncle Pat ALWAYS would encourage the kids “pick more, eat more”…and then watch Grandma when she realized that the areas had nearly been “clear cut”….and Pat sat back with that smirky smile! *The pride and complete enjoyment that he had…when he pulled off Patti’s Great Birthday Surprise…getting her mom and grandma up here to surprise her on her birthday….he had them hide in the bedroom until Patti arrived…he was so proud of himself for pulling that one off! *Pat’s great and everlasting love…for Patti…”the love of my life”!! *When Pat’s mom, Garnet, died in 1999..something in Pat also died…he just never learned to accept or live with that loss. Garnet was his rock, his protector, his guide…her passing left a huge hole in his heart. While we will all miss “Uncle Pat” terribly…we take great comfort in knowing that Don, Garnet, Mike and Pat are together again.