This is the last of a two-part series.
In the last column, Pat West talked about attending Andrews High School and being on the cheerleading squad. “I went to school with Ann Jefferies, who became a movie star. She was
a little older than me, but we were in plays together. Many years ago, she returned to Andrews for a reception and some of us went to see her.”
Patricia McClelland married Reid West in 1942, and he joined the U.S. Navy during World War II, and he was assigned to the USS Miller, which was a Fletcher Class Destroyer DD-535. Pat said, “He used to tell us about the time the ship was missing for days during the war, and when he was almost washed overboard during a storm, but as he was sliding off the ship, he grabbed a chain and hung on.”
During the time that Reid was in military service, Pat got a job at the Lockheed Plant, where they were making bomber aircraft in Marietta, Ga. “I just worked there for a short while because I was away from my little girl. My mother was keeping her for me, but I got homesick for my family. Reid came back from the war in 1946, and I was glad to see him. Oh, he was the best-looking man.”
Reid West had returned from two tours of duty in the United States Navy during World War II, while Pat had kept the home fire burning here in Andrews. Over the years, the couple was blessed with five children: Catherine Iris, Reid Cole, David Allen, Roger Dale and John Sidney, who died as an infant.
In the year that followed, Reid went to work in hard rock mining and the family traveled all over the United States from New England to Colorado. Pat said, “We were living in a big old farm house in Pennsylvania in an area settled by the Dutch and Amish people. I bought our milk, butter, and corn from the Amish, they were good people.
Andrews had little to offer in way of making money for a family to live on, so if you were not a farmer, logger or owned a store in town, it was hard to make a living, so many couples had to move to find work. “There were a lot of Andrews people working in the mines in Pennsylvania and many of them would gather at my house, and I loved all the company. Susie and Gerald “Frog” Curtis were there, Dorothy and J.L. Day were there with their children. Some of the others were: Carl and Geraldine Hardin, Jeanette and Bill Tatham, Sue and Aston Hicks, Larry and Ronnie McInturf, Dewey Thompson, and Rob Mashburn who always brought his guitar over to sing. We had a lot of fun,” Pat said.
“I can just go back and remember all I’ve done in my life and I love it,” said Pat. Some of her best memories were working at District Memorial Hospital with her sisters, Anna Winfrey and Mary Stiles. They worked at the hospital so long they were called “lifers! I took my nursing training from June Maxwell, she was my instructor, and at the time you were not required to be an LPN or an RN to give shots or give out medicine, so we done everything a patient needed.”
I remember working with Phyllis Rayburn, Bernice Roper, Doris White, Jean Hogsed, Barbara Wooten, Gloria Conley, Edna Chickalelee, Suzanne VanGorder and Wilma Crawford, who was Dr. Morrow’s daughter. Lenore McMahan was my best friend since the third grade, and she worked as a volunteer at the hospital,” Pat said.
“I had a lot of family members working at the hospital besides my sisters, I had two nephews, Bobby (Snipe) Winfrey and Ray Stiles, and my niece, Dorcas Stiles.”
Pat is a remarkable lady who has been a vital part of the wonderful history of the Andrews Valley. We wish her well.
Kandy Barnard is a columnist for the Cherokee Scout. To talk about the Andrews Valley, call her at 828-361-3268 or email kandybarnard@gmail.com.