Paty, Harriet Sims

Held Long Career With Combustion Engineering

  • Sunday, October 4, 2015

Harriet Sims Paty, of Chattanooga, Tennessee, died on Saturday, October 3, 2015 at the age of 94.

She was the daughter of NL and Frances Sims of Birchwood, Tn. She graduated from Central High School and Edmondson Business School and retired from Combustion Engineering in 1985 and Arthritis Associates in 2008, where she worked as a receptionist and later as a clerk until she was 88 years old.

She was preceded in death by her husband of 51 years, John Garland Paty, her son, Dan Sims Paty, and daughter-in-law, Katherine Dickinson Paty.

Survivors include Mack, her Yorkshire Terrier; her two children, John G. Paty, Jr. (Charlotte) of Soddy Daisy, and Sherry Douglas Volkert (Leon) of Bowling Green, Ky. Her grandchildren and great grandchildren call her Shorty, a name given by her husband John, as she was about a foot shorter than he. Her granddaughters are Katy Veal (Chris) of Lookout Mountain, and Sarah Volkert (Ken) of Bowling Green, and Charlotte Lamirand (Chris) of Atlanta. Grandsons are Christiaan Volkert (Ann Marie) and Gable Volkert (Mandy) of Bowling Green, Dan Paty (Michelle) of Lookout Mountan, and John Paty III (Connie), and Christopher Paty (Samantha) of Chattanooga. Her 17 great-grandchildren include great-granddaughters, Sydney, Chapel, Maclaine, Carson, Knox, and Sloane, of Bowling Gree; Mary Katherine and Chloe of Lookout Mountain; Ellie and Caraline of Chattanooga; and great- grandsons, McGavock and Parker of Lookout Mountan, Jacob of Bowling Green, and Gabe and Jack of Chattanooga, step great-grandsons, Will and Sam; sister-in-law, Selma Cash Paty; nieces and nephews Ralph, Gaye, Pam, Kim, Charlie, Bunny, AL, Pat, and Peggy, and special thanks to her niece Adair who took her to the doctor, out for lunch on Sunday afternoon at Captain D’s, and played dominoes with her; and to Bobby Nation who came to the house for hair dressing.

Even though she and John could barely afford it, she devoted the majority of her income for their children’s private high school education, an effort that she and John never gave up, despite the financial obstacles.  She was known for her sharp wit and stylish dress, which she continued until she became ill. She was one of a kind. Before she quit driving, some exasperated Chattanoogans may remember being behind her as she drove to and from home to Arthritis Associates in Hixon in her white Mitsubishi convertible across Thrasher Bridge at 15 miles an hour, only to be greeted by an unfriendly hand gesture and smirk from an 88-year-old proxided blonde whose head was barely visible over the dashboard, as they honked their horn and sped by. During the summers of the fifties through the eighties, she and John and family and friends spent the weekends on Chickamauga Lake boating and skiing and drinking lots of beer and bourbon, until they decided to give up the lake-life for a quieter one in an East Brainerd home, with an in ground pool, where she continued to live until her death.

Most of John and Harriet’s friends have been deceased for years, including Bill and Lillian, Spitty, Buddy Cobble, Bobby Lackey (Phyllis) and Bobby Fansler, Carolyn, and others. Her Yorkshire Terrier Mac was her constant companion, one of her many over the years, including Bobby, Honey, Joey, and others. She was well cared for at home until her death, and much thanks to Hospice of Chattanooga and the homecare companions and caregivers, particularly Summer, Debbie, and Brenda. And special thanks to the Partners and “girls” at Arthritis Associates who were so kind to her, especially, Kristie Terrell and Marian Wint-Gilbert RN.

A funeral service will be held at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 10, at the East Chapel of Chattanooga Funeral Home, 404 South Moore Road.  Entombment will be in Chattanooga Memorial Park.  

The family will receive friends from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday at the funeral home.  Donations to Hospice of Chattanooga in lieu of flowers are requested.

Please share your thoughts and memories atwww.ChattanoogaEastChapel.com.

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