Joanna Keele

Joanna Patten was born 8 March 1888, to her parents Thomas Jefferson Patten Jr. and Clara Isabella BIllings. When Joanna was born, Thomas Jefferson Patten Jr. took her into the kitchen and gave her his mother's name of Joanna; to which her mother, Clara Isabella replied: " I will never call her Joanna, I will call her Josie." Joanna's mother never did call her by her given name of Joanna and when Clara Isabella died Joanna said, "there, now I will take my name back!"

Not much is known of her childhood. We pick up her story when she marries Frank Keele. She worked at the mills on 1st ave. She had all seven babies at home with the assist of a midwife or country doctor with none of the conveniences of modern medicine. None of these births were registered at Heyburn City records, or the state of Idaho.

It was during this period of time that the nation was involved in World War I and Frank was drafted. Her daughter, Lois recalls, "My mother petitioned the local authorities and explained in no uncertain terms, that she needed him to care for her, the 7 children and the 40 acres much more than the government did."

After their first 7 children were born, they moved to Lovell, Idaho to run the Keele Ranch. The harsh climate and the grueling work soon took its toll on Joanna. She was far away from her brothers and sisters. She felt totally alone. Wyoming was barren in contrast to the wonderful fresh fruits grown back home in Utah. Also her son, Gus, started getting pneumonia almost every winter and one year the entire town of Lovell had a terrible epidemic of spinal meningitis and the schools were closed and the whole town was quarantined. These were only some of the reasons Joanna longed to be back home closer to her family.

For these and other reasons, they decided to move back to Provo, UT, once they landed there, they stayed with Joanna's mother, Grandma Patten in Orem. It must have been in the spring because it was the strawberry season. The stay at Grandma Patten's was not very pleasant or very long.

Fond memories from Lois: Walking home from primary where she would watch her mother leading the music and that's what Lois wanted to do. They didn't have a car and had to walk to and from church; this is when Joanna was a young mother.

Joanna and her daughters Bell, Carol and Lois all sang together in a quartet and tried to practice daily as they were asked to perform all over the valley frequently. They had to develop a wide repertoire and loved doing this. Their bled was wonderful as only family can produce. It was always for church service, never any thought of going big time.

The Keele home was very humbly built by Frank Keele's ingenuity, determination and sweat of his brow. The Provo based home included a roughed-in cement basement and 2 bedroom house above ground. It also had a lighted kitchen featuring a large wooden round table where canning corn, tomatoes, peaches and cherries joined laughter and work together for the Keele family.

Aroma from freshly baked bread and homemade pies still graces my senses. Gleaning the fruit trees, berry patches and vegetables fields provided their winter's primary source of food. I can recall a back porch where Joanna grew lovely, stair-step potted flowers and green, hanging plants and nearby the lilting song of birds housed in a cage.

Beyond the porch lay my childhood fascination... grandmother's garden. Along the wire fence, gladiolas and sweet peas paraded their brilliant red, yellow and purple hues. Mid center in elevated green rows grew peas, carrots and tomatoes. Nearby a berry patch yielded lots of sweet juicy berries. In the back of the garden there were tall rows of golden corn and the rabbit hutch with many white furry bunnies which caught my undivided attention for hours. To me, the garden's beauty was the outward expression of my grandmother's nature and never at any time did she prohibit me from visiting her garden.

Joanna died from bone cancer on 25 March 1959 and her husband followed with lung cancer 2 years later.

Parents:

Thomas Jefferson Patten 1856 - 1917

Clara Isabella Billings Patten 1861 - 1944

Spouse:

Frank Keele 1886 - 1960

Children:

Luella Billings Keele Mitchell 1912 - 1982

Cleopatra Keele Gale 1914 - 1998

Thomas Edward Keele 1916 - 1988

William A Keele 1918 - 1993

Clara Isabella Keele Johnson 1919 - 2001

Frank Alonzo Keele 1923 - 2007

John Alden Keele 1926 - 1997

Maintained by: JJ

Originally Created by: Don Shelley

Record added: Oct 16, 2010

Find A Grave Memorial# 60197086