 Patsy Ruth (Riffe) Race, 93, of Fremont passed away on December 20, 2020 at the Newaygo Medical Care Facility. Patsy was born on December 11, 1927 in Houston, Texas to George Lee Riffe and Elsie Marie (Drinkwater) Riffe. She had many fond memories of spending summers at her grandparent’s farm along the Trinity River near Crockett, Texas. Patsy moved to Kansas City, Missouri when she was 18 and attended art school. While there she met Erwin N. Race Jr. She and Erwin married on June 19, 1948. A year later they moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan to start their family and lived in the area until retirement. After that they moved to Mench Lake near Baldwin. Patsy worked as a clerk at Wurzburg's in downtown Grand Rapids in the early 1950’s. She left there to raise her children. When the children were grown she attended Davenport College and went to work for KV Printing which became Spectrum Graphics. There she worked her way up from bookkeeper to company management and remained in that role until her retirement. After moving north, Patsy worked for Webber Township in Lake County as zoning administrator. In her leisure time Patsy was involved in many activities including creating art, flower gardening, reading science fiction, ceramics, swimming, fishing, bowling, bird watching, rock collecting and, in the 1970’s, disco dancing. She loved the outdoors and traveled with Erwin to visit many of the waterfalls in Michigan. She also loved nature walks with her friend Marie. She is survived by her daughter, Lynn Marie (Francis) Stankus of Fremont; grandchildren Kelly Bolen of Kalamazoo; Kimberlee (Bolen) Johnson of Santa Maria, California; Jason (Karin) Bolen of Arroyo Grande, California; Marilynn and Stephanie Race of Grand Rapids; great-grandchildren Keira and Ethan Johnson; and daughter-in-law Patricia (Price) Race of Grand Rapids and many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her husband, Erwin; her son Scott Lee Race; her sisters Helen Riffe, Alice (White) Riffe, Grace (Cobb) Riffe, and her brother James Riffe. As per her wishes, cremation has taken place and there will be no services. A celebration of her life will be held at a future date. As a lasting memorial to Patsy, please consider a donation to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Friends may send a condolence or share a memory with the Race family online at www.crandellfh.com. Arrangements by Crandell Funeral Home – Fremont Chapel 231-924-0800
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