Obituary of Patty Carol Owens

On Wednesday, the 21st of May, in the year 2025, Ms. Patty Carol Owens, at the age of 79, after a long battle with cancer, embarked on her journey to meet Christ Jesus our Lord, her much cherished soul ascending the clear blue morning sky with the holy angels to Paradise. The life of Ms. Patty, known by her surviving family as "Meema," is highlighted by her unceasing love for God and neighbor, her unending kindness, and her unrelenting determination to bear the Cross of Christ through all hardships, ever attentive to the needs of others, giving all she had with self-emptying love. To all who knew her, Patty and her love was always a safe refuge in the midst of all the crises of the world. Born Patty Carol Douglas on October 29, 1945, in the rolling hills of Adolphus, Kentucky, the second of five children, Patty was raised in a small two-room household without running water, often playing outside in the fields and creeks with her older brother Paul Jr. and her cousins. By 1951, Patty and the rest of the Douglas family moved to Indianapolis, Indiana. Throughout her formative years, she joined the ranks of Girl Scouts of America, achieving First Class by the time she was a senior Girl Scout. Patty graduated from Pike High School in 1964. Throughout her years at Pike, she was a dedicated participant in the school's band program playing the Clarinet, and also serving as a majorette in marching band and shows. In 1969, she gave birth to her only child Deborah Hice (née Owens). Patty supported her daughter Debbie all throughout her life, through the toughest of trials, happily spoiling her with plenty of opportunities to freely explore her interests in athletics and music and beyond, and to cultivate deep strong friendships and faith in Christ. "Oh brother!" Patty would say cracking a smile as she drove Debbie with her friend Stefanie wearing Miss Cinderella Teen pageant tiaras and sashes to Taco Bell late at night in 1984. Her daughter Debbie battled Hodgkin's lymphoma three times from 1986 to 1988. During such a tumultuous, life-threatening and yet victorious series of struggles, Patty was always there for her by her side. Patty became "Meema" after the birth of her first grandson Boris Sitnikoff in 1995, and her second grandson Vladimir Sitnikoff in 1996. After she retired from her celebrated tenure at IUPUI as an administrative secretary, she moved to Middle Tennessee to live closer to Debbie and her family to continue her support. Meema's life in the Volunteer State from the late 1990s onwards unto her blessed repose is an era marked by her dilligently weaving a web of love and support, enabling Debbie and all of her loved ones to endure and overcome hardships of all kinds. Throughout these years, Meema would often come over to help with babysitting, with cleaning and doing the dishes, and even offer generous relief during financial crises. She also became the grandmother of her third grandchild Brooke Hice in 2006. Her grandson Vladimir recounts, "Meema was the most selfless person I have ever known." Brooke remembers her times with Meema, "When I was little, she often watched me at her apartment. Whenever we did laundry, Meema would always get me a cookie from the vending machine." Boris reminisces, "Looking back, I used to think Disney World was the place to be, but little did I know I lived every day in 'Meema World,' a place where her love for us shines through everything, every little old knick-knack and every little McDonalds snack, far more worthwhile to be, 70 trillion times seven." By 2010, joining the community at Westbrooks Towers, an independent living senior home in Murfreesboro, TN, Meema made some more friends, and helped many more people. The folks at Westbrooks Towers say that she was, "very nice and softspoken," "a sweet and gentle soul." In 2013-2014, Meema once again was at her daughter's side, offering the ministry of presence, this time with the help of Debbie's loved ones, Jeff Hice, Boris, Vladimir and Brooke. It was discovered that Debbie had meningeal tumors and had to undergo brain surgery. After what felt like several weeks of attending to her at St Thomas hospital in Nashville, the surgery was a success. Debbie was tumor-free yet again within a year. Around the same time, Meema helped her grandson Boris and his father Benjamin Sitnikoff in a time where they also both needed her most, and thanks to her gracious help among the web of love she wove, they were able to embrace eachother's repentance, both joining and then graduating the Men's Life Recovery Program at the Nashville Rescue Mission, working together as father and son and experiencing profound healing in Christ. The final years of Meema's life was a continuation of all she had been doing since the beginning. By 2022, Meema was diagnosed with cancer, and proceeded with treatment for three years until opting for home hospice care. Throughout that time, her daughter Debbie, her grandsons Boris and Vladimir, with help from cherished friends and family, and eventually with the help of home hospice services from Aveanna Healthcare, all pitched in to care for Meema and to be there for her in whatever way possible, just as she has for everybody all throughout her life. Ms. Patty Carol Owens is survived by her two younger sisters Pam Hill (née Douglas) and Peggy Stein (née Douglas), and her younger brother Phillip Douglas; her brother-in-law Phil (Helen) Owens; her daughter Debbie (Jeff) Hice; her grandchildren Boris Sitnikoff, Vladimir Sitnikoff and Brooke "Kash" Hice; and her grandcat Cheeta. Ms. Owens was predeceased by her parents Paul (Thelma) Douglas, and her older brother Paul Douglas Jr. Her visitation and memorial service will be held Sunday, June 1st, at Murfreesboro Funeral Home. The visitation will begin at 1pm and continue until the memorial service beginning at 3pm. We are deeply grateful for the life of Ms. Patty "Meema" Carol Owens. We find comfort in knowing that she is now resting in the arms of God. Please keep Patty in your prayers, that God may grant her great and rich mercy, that she may be brought ever closer to Christ's light in Paradise, and that her memory may be eternal.