Family and friends are remembering Darrellee Pavey, and sharing this remembrance with her community:
Darrellee Pavey of West Seattle passed away on December 26 at Swedish First Hill after a nine-year battle with lung cancer.
She was born on January 6, 1951, to Fred and Helen Ihrig, in Seattle. She was raised by her mother, spending time in Oklahoma as her stepfather was stationed in Ft. Sill, then later lived in South Park, now a portion of Tukwila. Later she moved with her mother to West Seattle, where she attended Madison Middle School and West Seattle High School. It was in this timeframe she met her future husband, Pat Pavey.
Darrellee was married on October 29, 1971 and started homemaking with her husband and first son, Sean David, in the South Admiral area until a new home was built in the Fauntleroy Springs area. Having moved only 200 feet from Fairmount Park Elementary School, she took up her passion to work with children and was employed by the school to watch over children during their breakfast and lunch breaks. She also took up being a mother to her second son, Travis Christian.
It was the spring of 2015 that she was rushed to Swedish First Hill hospital only to find out she had small cell lung cancer and started the long path to tratment, including three rounds of chemotherapy as well as radiation treatments. Even with this devastating diagnosis, Darrellee continued on with her loves. One of those loves was the raising of her Golden Retrievers, raising four of them. A second love was her home and garden, where she spent most of her free time.
With her husband’s retirement from the Seattle Fire Department, and her sons long moved from the family home, Darrellee made an effort to maintain a carefree life even with her ongoing treatments for her cancer, but in the end the cancer won out. The year 2023 became her toughest challenge, and with visits to the hospital lasting longer it became obvious she was losing the battle. Nevertheless she maintained her poise and did not let the inevitable sway her. She had promised her brother that she would make one more Christmas and that she did. She also made her fifty-second marriage anniversary, celebrating while in Swedish. Her passing was not a surprise but it still left her family in heartbreak. She is survived by her brother Nick Barrie, sons Sean David and Travis Christian, and her husband, Patrick.
(WSB publishes West Seattle obituaries and memorial announcements by request, free of charge. Please email the text, and a photo if available, to westseattleblog@gmail.com)
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