Patricia “Pat” Barnum was born in 1931 at the Norwegian Hospital in Brooklyn, New York, to William Boyle and Gunhild Benestad. She was always very close to her ice-skating Norwegian grandfather when she was young, and she dreamed of becoming another Sonja Henie when she grew up.
Although raised primarily in New Jersey, she also spent several years in Arizona with her family during grade school, living in a house that still stands in Phoenix’s Willo District. She remembered rafting in the canals, shaking out her shoes (lest a scorpion have nested in there overnight!) before walking to school every morning, and traveling with her family over to Venice, California, on the coast to cool down during the summers. The family then returned to New Jersey, where she graduated from Westfield High School with the Class of 1949. (One of her school friends - Olympic diver Bobby Clotworthy - visited Eureka during the late fifties and amazed Pat’s children by walking up and down the stairs on his hands.)
Pat was an excellent student, and she was offered a full scholarship to Stanford when she graduated. However, the summer before her senior year she traveled out to California to visit her sister Florence, and that trip changed the course of her life when she met Bob Barnum on the beach at Redway. Pat and Bob’s families shared a connection via her sister’s husband, Don Philips, the son of Dorothy Falk of Eureka. Socially, Pat and Bob had just a week to get to know each other before she returned home, but on her trip back to Westfield, when asked what she thought of California and the people she’d met, she replied: “Bob and I are going to be married!” Her high school yearbook reported that she was “most likely” to be heard singing “California Here I Come!” as she walked the hallways during her senior year.
Their chemistry and their commitment to each other was undeniable throughout their 73 years of marriage, which ended only with Bob’s passing in 2022. Together they raised five children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Nothing brought Pat more joy than gathering her family together to celebrate life’s special moments. She especially enjoyed Christmas with her life-sized creche, her cookie and “Barnum circus” trees and her Christmas teas.
A gifted businesswoman and champion of the arts, Pat owned the Blue Sky boutique at the Eureka Inn during the sixties and seventies and later founded Westway Marketing, representing and promoting local artists and artisans throughout the US. She had a keen eye for talent and expression, and she loved helping others succeed. She was an early member of the local Florence Crittenton circle, originally a home for unwed mothers in San Francisco, which morphed locally circa 1970 into Humboldt Sponsors. She was active in the Marshall School PTA when her children were young, and she was a founding member of the St. Joseph Hospital Foundation. She also chaired Eureka’s Bicentennial Celebration in 1976 (one of those years when the fireworks rose exuberantly and then disappeared into the fog!).
Pat embraced life. Her motto was “Do it now!” During her early married life, she was an enthusiastic skier and tennis player, and during her middle years she took up painting. She loved fashion, and she became close friends with Tokiko Madison with whom she enjoyed designing dresses. And through it all she was active in politics, advocating for classic Republican causes and supporting representatives. She and Bob hosted Governor Ronald Reagan twice in their home for fundraisers and attended three GOP conventions from 1976 to 1984.
She and Bob also enjoyed “bridge club nights” during their early years, and they were members of a gourmet cooking club. (So many interesting cookbooks!) - A fond memory of their children is hearing the whisk, whisk, whisk of egg whites being beaten in a copper bowl after they’d been sent upstairs to bed, the chocolate or Grand Marnier souffles being enjoyed during the parents’ quiet time together with Johnny Carson late at night. Dreams not of sugarplums but of leftover morning souffle would follow the kids into Dreamland.
Simply stated, Pat relished life. Her moving on leaves an empty space in her wake, one that can’t quite be filled.
She leaves behind her children, Patricia Barnum, Charles Robert Barnum, III, William F. Barnum (Bill, and spouse Monica Cruz Barnum), and Cathleen Barnum Christensen (and spouse Pattison Christensen). She was preceded in death by her daughter Janet Lea Andersen Downing in December 2013. She leaves eight grandchildren: Kelsey Barnum Bonilla, Robert Ogden Barnum, Sarah Barnum Poff, Emily Jean Christensen, Jensen Christensen, Marin Christensen Ferris, Paul W. Andersen and Bridget Andersen Lane. Fifteen great-grandchildren survive her: Kealan, Brooklyn, Leilani, Sienna, Lane, Mateo, Cody, Nolan, Greyson, Charley Ann, Carter, Joshua, Elle, Tahlia, and Cove. And one great-grandson, Weston. And Pat is survived by her best friend, confidant, and loving and supportive sister Janet Sikora.
She also leaves many extended family members and friends — including Tokiko, Bev Morrison, and her dear friend Kathryn DeVries, who visited with Pat during her final weeks. Nearing the end of her life, she was cared for by a crew of wonderful caretakers, many of whom we’ve grown to love like family, most notably during her final months by Tracy Flanagan, Wendy Tharp and Emily Christensen with the expert help of Karen Phillips, Brenda Fregoso, Jessica Beck-Stasse, Emily Fryer and Brandie Burnham.
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