Patricia Inez Higgins Hanson

Patricia (Pat) Inez Higgins Hanson, beloved mother, grandmother, and friend, 82, returned home to her husband and Heavenly Father on January 26th, 2025. For many years, she had been a fighter, surviving the effects of cancer and congestive heart failure, among other struggles.

Pat was born on December 13, 1942, in Salt Lake City to Richard Ambrose Higgins and Agnes Vilate Hales Higgins. She attended Dilworth Elementary School, Hillside Junior High, and Highland High. In high school, Pat was a member of the Pep Club. As a senior, she also participated in “High Debs,” a school service club.

Pat taught piano lessons as a young teen to neighborhood children. She later worked at Walgreens, Keeley’s, Nida’s, and Kentucky Fried Chicken. Working as a waitress at Lamb’s Grill was a favorite job. Pat enjoyed the relationships she made with the Greek restaurant owners while sharing their food and culture.

Pat received a scholarship to Utah State University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education. While at USU, she was elected treasurer of the Inter-Residence Council and joined the Tri Delta sorority. She earned college money by typing and filing in the school library.

After graduating, Pat was hired as the first kindergarten teacher in Garland, Utah, with kindergarten being a new program in Cache Valley schools. 

Pat met her husband, Ronald (Ron), in a church student ward. They were married for time and all eternity in the Salt Lake Temple on September 17, 1965.

Pat supported Ron while finishing his degree. The couple then moved to La Crescent, Minnesota. While there, their first child, Heidi, was born in La Crosse, Wisconsin.

Shortly after this, the small family moved to Southern California, initially to Alhambra, and later purchased their first home in Santa Ana. Pat worked as a substitute teacher in grades K-6. While living there, they adopted their first son, Bobby. 

Five years later, they moved back to Pat’s hometown of Salt Lake City, where they bought a home in the Millcreek area. That is where their youngest son, Eric, was born. 

Ron built the family a new home in Sandy, where they moved in the summer of 1978. Pat liked to say she started selling Avon in 1980 because her 13-year-old daughter kept stealing her make-up. However, anyone who knew her realized it was largely a way to socialize and buy things for herself, family, and friends. She was an Avon representative for more than 40 years.

She and Ron liked to get together to play card games like Bridge and Pinochle with other couples. As a young mom, Pat joined a bowling league. She was a sports fan, watching college football and basketball games with Ron, even baseball, when the World Series rolled around. She was also a supporter of Heidi’s basketball, Bob’s football, and Eric’s basketball and baseball games.

Pat was often competitive and lucky too, winning prizes in many drawings and raffles over the years. Pat was elated when she and Ron were chosen as contestants on the original “Let’s Make a Deal,” dressed as American Indians. 

While living at Cedarwood these past few years, Pat enjoyed regular games of bingo and dice. She could also be quite the card shark; on Mondays, her son, Bob, would join her to play poker with the Cedarwood “boys.” On Wednesdays, she would return to her former neighborhood to play Mahjong with long-time girlfriends.

Pat was an avid reader from a young age. She joined multiple book clubs, including one whose membership she enjoyed for over 35 years.

Pat loved a party, looking forward to the elaborate Christmas parties given by Ron’s employer, Alder Construction. The family also enjoyed summer getaways to Bear Lake and Ron’s boss’s ranch in Peoa. She helped keep neighborhood New Year’s Eve parties going as a guest or hostess for years. 

Pat liked to travel, whether to see Ron’s family in Idaho or his sister in California. The family enjoyed vacations with her to Southern Utah as part of her teaching recertification classes. Being an only daughter, she loved the little getaways and vacations she shared with her 11 girl cousins from the Hales side of her family. Later in life, she and Ron made many road trips to Nevada, Arizona, and Oregon, flew to New England, and even cruised to Alaska. Pat also experienced Europe, Mexico, Hawaii, New York, and South Dakota. 

Pat was an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. She taught Sunday School and Primary and served in various callings of the Relief Society, including two presidencies. Her favorite calling was serving in the nursery twice for a total of seven years.

Pat was a friend to many. She sustained friendships from childhood, high school, college, and the various places she lived as an adult, particularly her Sandy home of 43 years.

Pat is survived by her children, Heidi Marie (Steve) Haymore, Robert (Bob) Boyd (Michelle), Eric William (Bethany), and eight grandchildren, Shawn, Gabriel, and Kristina Haymore; Tyler, Zachary, Aaron, Izabel, and McKenna Hanson.

She is preceded in death by her parents, her brother, Richard Ames Higgins, and her stepfather, Edwin Wright. Her beloved husband, Ron, passed away in 2018. 

Funeral services will be held on Saturday, February 8, at 11:30 AM at the Willow Creek 3rd Ward meetinghouse, 2400 E Alta Canyon Dr. (8600 S) Sandy, Utah. You may visit with the family at a viewing to be held on Friday from 6:00 to 8:00 PM or Saturday from 10:00 to 11:00 AM. Interment will follow the services at Memorial Mountain View Cemetery, 3115 E Bengal Blvd (7800 S) Cottonwood Heights, Utah.