Our beloved Patty departed at high noon on Saturday, July 12. She was at home in her own bed, soundly asleep. Her youngest sister, Barbara Bartlett, a niece Sara Flora, her husband of 40 years, Harley Shaw, and his daughter, Jean Johnson, were with her when she passed.Patty was born on July 5, 1941 in Stambaugh, Michigan. Her father, Frank G. Woodruff, was a mining engineer, so the family moved around a lot. While growing up, Patty lived in northern Michigan, New Jersey, Nevada, and Oracle, Arizona. Patty was a bright and inquisitive child. She learned to read at an early age and at age 9, she read the entire Encyclopedia Britannica from A to Z. Through her adult life, she surprised others by recalling minutiae she learned during that youthful reading marathon. Reading continued to be important throughout her life. She spurned television, often leaving a room where one was playing.
Patty had a lifelong love of horses, beginning with a stuffed horse as a baby. At about the same time she was reading the encyclopedia, she published and dispersed a newsletter titled Your Daily Oats. When she was 13, the family moved to Nevada and bought two horses. From then on, she owned horses until 2021, tragically losing her last 3 over a short period. Even as her memory and ability to communicate failed, horses continued to be the subject she tried to express most often.
Patty attended the University of Arizona, where she met Gordon Bergthold. They married and had two children, Mike and Cory. Gordon’s career kept them moving for a while, until they settled in Chico, California. Patty continued her education at Chico State University, taking art and biology classes. In Chico, Patty became a superb seamstress and developed her painting and drawing skills. She also became active in the Women’s Rights Movement.
After 15 years of marriage, Patty returned to the University of Arizona and completed a degree in Natural Resource Recreation. During this time, she lived at the Woodruff family property, Cherry Valley Ranch, in Oracle, Arizona. She took a position as Map and Trails Coordinator for Arizona State Parks Department, then moved to the Arizona Governor’s office as a Natural Resource Planner. For about two years, she worked on a special detail for the Bureau of Reclamation in Boulder City Nevada, coordinating a tri-state effort to regulate development within the floodplain of the lower Colorado River. That position ended in 1983, when the river overflowed its dams and demonstrated clearly the dangers of flooding.
During her tenure with Governor Babbitt’s office, Patty met Harley Shaw, who became the love of her life. She eventually joined Harley in Chino Valley, Arizona and started a publishing business covering Prescott, Kingman, and Flagstaff. She owned this business for 15 years, during which it grew to 300 pages of advertising per month, keeping at least seven employees busy. For nine years of this time, Patty and Harley lived in a historic house at Del Rio Springs north of Chino Valley. Patty continued to have horses and also raised chickens, turkeys, and one lovelorn goose. She staged an ongoing battle with local coyotes, gopher snakes, and rattlesnakes. She didn’t want these predators killed, but she actively tried to dissuade them from eating her poultry.
Patty and Harley moved to Hillsboro, New Mexico in 2001, seeking a quieter town with less growth. Both became active in local organizations and helped form the Hillsboro Historical Society to preserve key historic buildings, sites, important artifacts, and local historic literature.
Patty is survived by a son, Michael Bergthold of Cardiff by the Sea, California; daughter, Cory Rautter of Liberty Hills Texas; husband, Harley Shaw; sisters Barbara Bartlett and Susan Woodruff; brothers Jim, Mike, and Bruce Woodruff, three grandchildren, three great-grandchildren, and multiple nieces and nephews. She is also survived by her 106-year-old mother, Mary Banks Woodruff, of Tucson.
Those who knew Patty well will miss her crystalline laugh. She was loved by all who knew her. Even during the last two weeks of her life, she managed to jitterbug with her son and meet visitors with her mischievous smile. May she ride her favorite horse in peace.
