Patsy West

Adventurous, Funny, Smart, Loving, Faithful, Christ-like.

Patsy West was born February 17, 1938 in Ada, Oklahoma. Her parents were Vernon and Gladys (Dillard) Ingram and her two younger siblings were a brother, Vernon Jr., and sister, Ginger.

Patsy grew up in a fun-loving and committed Christian family. As a girl, she and her family attended church regularly at Trinity Baptist Church, where her father was a deacon. Patsy received Jesus as her Lord and Savior at an early age and in her youth felt called by God to one-day become a missionary.

In school Patsy was an achieved student and was even able to skip a grade at one point. Her childhood hobbies included fishing in the ponds at her grandparent's home and racing her horse down the old dirt road.

Patsy attended college at Oklahoma Baptist University where she met the love of her life, Vernal West. They were married on May 25, 1956. After attending OBU they moved to Ft. Worth where Vernal went to Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and Patsy went to Texas Christian University.

In the early years of ministry, Patsy and Vernal served as Pastors at Colbert Baptist Church, Coalgate First Baptist Church, and Prague First Baptist Church. It was during this time that their two sons, Robert and Greg, were born.

In 1972, Patsy and Vernal took their family to Kenya as missionaries with the International Mission Board, through the Southern Baptist Convention. They lived just off Lake Victoria, in Kisumu, Kenya. Here they worked with over 65 churches in the Bush and eventually founded Parkland Baptist Church, one of the largest churches in Nairobi today with over 6,000 attendees. While in Kenya, Patsy became fluent in Swahili. She used this gift to begin a girl's club in Shauri Moyo, a slum in Nairobi. Patsy and Vernal spent eight years as missionaries in Kenya before returning home to help with ailing family members.

Back In Ada, Vernal and Patsy both worked at the family business, Motor Sales, for 16 years. While at Motor Sales, Patsy and Vernal continued to pastor for local churches. In 1992, they heard God's calling once again and joined a group of eighteen individuals to establish Grace Christian Fellowship, in Ada, where Vernal was the founding Pastor.

"When we started the church (GCF), we had two things in mind. One is that we wanted people to feel comfortable whether they had ever been to church or not. The other thing was that people who'd never been to church would be able to understand what was going on," Patsy West said. "We wanted to have a contemporary church where everyone could feel at home and get real answers to the real needs in their lives. Our motto is casual, comfortable, and committed one hundred percent to Christ."

Patsy loved people. She was known for inviting everyone to her and Vernal's home during the holidays, and making sure they felt part of the family. She also had a heart for the children and youth of the church and had a way of making others feel special.

Patsy's hobbies were fishing, painting, gardening, and crafting. She enjoyed making jewelry, candles, flower arrangements, and potpourri. She loved animals, especially cats. Patsy also enjoyed cooking Indian food and was an avid reader. She was intelligent and had a great sense of humor.

Patsy was preceded in death by her parents; Vernon and Gladys Ingram, brother, Vernon Ingram Jr., and her husband of 61 years, Vernal West. She is survived by her sister; Ginger Jones, her oldest son, Robert, and his wife Peggy, youngest son, Greg, and his wife Heidi, and grandchildren; grandsons Jacob and Johannes West; granddaughters Jennifer (West) Cody, Sabine, and Katherine West, two great grandchildren; Shiloh and Silas Cody, and many other family members and countless friends.

Memorial Service: December 28, 2018, 11:00 am, at Grace Christian Fellowship, 15900 County Road 3563 Loop, Ada, OK 74820.

Flowers and condolences may be sent to Criswell Funeral Home at 815 Arlington St., Ada, OK 74820.