Patricia Ann (Caven) Finley

Patricia Ann Finley, 88, of Newton died on Sunday, November 26, 2017, at Mercy Medical Center in Des Moines.  A funeral service will be held at 10:30 a.m., Monday, December 4, at the Wallace Family Funeral Home and Crematory. The family will greet friends from 4-6 p.m., Sunday, at the funeral home.  Memorials to the Shriners Hospitals for Children – Twin Cities may be left at the funeral home.

Patricia, the daughter of Verne and Ferne (Meuret) Caven, was born on December 7, 1928 in Sioux City, Iowa and went to Glenwood Schools through the 7th grade.  When her mother remarried, Pat became part of a military family. She attended school in San Francisco and Texas and finally graduated from Randolph High School in Randolph, Iowa.

After high school, Pat attended a business college in Omaha, Nebraska and became a secretary.  Her first job was with Henry Fields, a Nursery Company in Shenandoah, Iowa for two years. She was working for National Life in Des Moines when she met John Finley, an engineering major at Iowa State University. They were united in marriage on September 1, 1950 in Lakewood, Ohio.  John took a job in Cleveland, Ohio and then later moved to Mount Clemens, Michigan to work for Philco.  The couple had two children, Kathleen and Jack.  After the Philco plant closed, they moved to Newton, Iowa with their children where Pat became a stay at home mom.  Pat was active in the Jaycee Jills Club.  She enjoyed bridge, theatre, reading, bingo, exercise class, and traveling. Pat also loved getting together and spending time with her family.

Those left to honor Pat’s memory are her children, Kathy (Dick) Tomlin of Des Moines and Jack (Terri) Finley of Des Moines; granddaughter, Megan Tomlin (Eric Biase) of Des Moines; and her great grandchildren, Avery Hogan, Ezra Biase, Eliza Biase, and Dylan Biase.  She was preceded in death by her parents, Ferne and Fred Harmon and Verne and Bethel Caven; and her husband, John Finley in 1989.

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