Patricia Beth (Ulrey) Bartholomew
FLOWER MOUND, Texas — Patricia Beth (Ulrey) Bartholomew, a loving mother and grandmother, was called to her Heavenly Father on Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2020. She spent her final moments on Earth with her youngest son, Mark, by her side.
Beth was born on July 20, 1934, in Casey, Ill. She was the sixth child of Elza and Emma Ulrey, and she graduated from Casey High School in 1952. She married Ernest Bartholomew on Sept. 21, 1954, shortly after Ernie returned from the Korean War. The two were married for more than 60 years.
Beth and Ernie welcomed their first son, David, in 1955 and moved to Arthur, Ill., before their second son, Mark, was born in 1959. She was a homemaker raising her two sons for years before working at Ead’s Grocery Store in Arthur in the late 1960s. In the early ‘70s, she began her job as a teller at State Bank of Arthur and worked there for nearly four decades before retirement.
Ernie and Beth loved to travel, taking many family trips around the country, but most often to Arizona to visit Ernie’s sister and her husband.
She was a devoted grandmother to her two grandsons, Zachary and Colten, whom she loved hosting on visits in their time off from school and sports. She taught them a bevy of card and domino games and many memories were made on the camping trips Beth and Ernie took the boys on. Beth would put the hot dogs and marshmallows on roasting sticks for the boys to cook each night.
Beth’s whole family loved her homemade noodles — a staple of every holiday menu — and the treats she would bake and stash in the cookie tins in her utility room. She would spoil her grandsons with desserts whenever they visited, highlighted by ice cream sundaes and her allowing endless amounts of Cool Whip on pies.
Beth and Ernie developed deep friendships with a number of couples with whom they spent winter months camping in Brownsville and Harrington, Texas. Beth loved listening to live music at the campground’s bandshell and taking trips across the border to Mexico with the group.
Throughout her life, Beth was involved in many community organizations. She was part of the Women’s Club and American Legion Auxiliary, and aided Ernie in many Douglas County activities. She was also active in the Arthur United Methodist Church, where she worshipped until moving closer to her family in 2016.
Beth was a voracious reader from the time she was young and spent hours each night reading novels and Upper Room books. In her later years, she started every morning reading the newspaper from cover to cover over a mug of coffee and a bowl of Raisin Bran. Beth enjoyed nothing more than nights spent around the kitchen table visiting and playing cards with family and friends.
She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband and her son, David. Her five siblings — sisters Ethel, Rosalie and Linda, and brothers Leonard and Loren — also preceded her in death.
Beth is survived by her son Mark (Terrie Dupre) Bartholomew, her grandsons Zachary and Colten (Jennifer Janke) Bartholomew, and many loving nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews.
Gravesite funeral services are scheduled for 1 p.m. Dec. 22 at the Washington Street Cemetery in Casey, Ill. She’ll be laid to rest next to Ernie. Shrader Funeral Home, Arthur, is assisting the family with arrangements. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Arthur United Methodist Church.
Online condolences to the family may be sent to www.hilligosshraderfh.com.
