Patricia "Patty" White passed away after an extended battle with colon cancer on August 22, 2021. Patty was surrounded by family, friends and love in the weeks leading up to her death. Every single member of her beloved family was able to say good bye to her in her final days, as well as many dear friends. Patty was born in Anaconda, MT on December 3, 1942. She was number four in a family of nine children born to James and Mary Gardner. She attended St. Peters Elementary and Anaconda Central High, graduating in 1961. Patty graduated from Carroll College in Education, then eventually earned her Masters Degree in Counseling from Montana State University. Patty touched an incredible number of lives during her many years in the counseling profession. Over the years, she worked at several Helena area organizations: Family Planning, Head Start consulting (CDI), Shodair Chemical Dependency Unit, Carroll College, PAL High School, and spent numerous years in private practice. Patty was a true people person and she valued building relationships dearly. Patty married her high school sweetheart and love of her life, Jim White, on June 13, 1964. Jim and Patty welcomed the first of their three children, Katie, on August 9, 1965 in Butte, MT. Jim was a Navy pilot, and their young family began their military adventures. Their second child, Sean, joined their family in Milton, FL on May 7, 1968 while stationed at Pensacola, FL. Their family was complete when Mary was born in Naples, Italy on June 29, 1972. The absolute light of their lives were their seven grandchildren - and there truly were no greater grandparents on the planet than Patty and Jim. Patty began her counseling career at a very young age - counseling the neighbor kids, school friends and family members beginning about age 5. That's not a typo! It was truly a lifelong gift for her - asking all the right questions, digging for information, adding just the right touch to have others open up to her. She was the queen of relationships, deeply impacting the lives of those she touched. We could not go anywhere in the Helena area without running into people that raved about the bearing she had on their lives. Her positive influence changed lives, and in some cases literally saved them. Patty made our home with a revolving door - she certainly did not raise just three children. If you were a friend of the White kids, you were most certainly asked "so, how's your love life?" - and you weren't about to get away with a short answer! Patty was known for her many words of wisdom and one-liners that we can all take away. Some of our favorites: "dear one", "dear heart", "send it out there into the universe", "what are you supposed to learn from that?", "I'm going to stay open to that", "your power is in your response", "God save us" (a bit sarcastically), "razor sharp that I am", "wackadoo", "I can dig it!", "own your part in it" and "get on board". Patty was one of the most kind, empathetic, welcoming, generous and adventurous humans to ever grace this earth. Mom made the absolute most of her 78 years, greatly appreciating the splendors of this world. She shared her love of travel with every one of her family members - sometimes traveling with just one of us, sometimes with one of our families, and in a few cases our entire family. Patty and Jim's philosophy on life was to spend money on making memories; whether it was time at our family cabin at Georgetown, our many trips, the holiday gatherings, or just simple time spent together. That is what we have now - our beautiful memories and experiences that we are so grateful for. Patty battled a tough year of chemo treatments with a goal of getting one last trip in. By the grace of God, she was able to pull this last trip off just 7 short weeks ago when she enjoyed an incredible vacation to Maui with all seven of her grandchildren and she loved every second of it. She is preceded in death by her parents Jim and Mary Gardner, her sisters Paula, MaryAnn and Margie, and her husband Jim White. She is survived by her children Katie White, Sean (Kim) White, and Mary (Trevor) Thompson and her beloved grandchildren Tanner, Colter and Katelynde Curey, Brendan and Reece Thompson, and Carson and Eliot White. Patty leaves behind many beautiful friends that she absolutely treasured. Our family would like to extend our deepest gratitude for the excellent, compassionate care Patty received from Dr. Weiner, Dr. Linford (Missoula), and Dr. Field, along with their incredible nurses, as well as St. Pete's Hospice. We would be honored by your presence at our mom's celebration of life at Shades of Green in Helena on Sunday, August 29 at 2:00pm. If you'd like to wear pink, she'd be tickled. If you'd like to give to a cause in her name, she was passionate about the Montana Food Bank Network.