Mabel Patterson

Private graveside services for Florence native Mabel Erline Patterson, 102, who died Thursday in Kearney, Nebraska, were Tuesday at Hillcrest Cemetery in Florence

Born May 13, 1919, in Florence to Elmer and Irene (Bowlby) Johnson, she graduated from Florence High School in 1937 and married John Martin on Sept. 30, 1939, in Florence.

He died in a car accident the next year. On April 14, 1946, she married John Howard “Pat” Patterson and moved first to Arkansas City, then to El Dorado, and finally to Great Bend, Kansas. After he died, she moved to Nebraska.

A brother, a sister, and a son preceded her in death. Survivors include children John L. Patterson and Jean Jacobson, three grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.

Memorials have been established with Aseracare Hospice, First Presbyterian Church, and Mother Hull Home in Kearney.