I was 32 years old and had mononucleosis. And it was bad. I was in the hospital in Greenville for 5 days. About day 3 the phone rang. It was First Lady Pat Fordice and she was calling to check on me. I will never forget that. It was so thoughtful.
I was sorry that I was out of state when I heard that she had passed away and was not able to go to her funeral. It was truly a sad day for me and Mississippi. She had a great life and will be missed by many.
Dan and Hunter – she was their Mama – couldn't have turned out better. Only three months earlier, Hunter, Dan, First Lady Marsha Barbour and several others saw the first black bear cubs born in Mississippi in over 40 years. And it was on the well-managed property of Mrs. Fordice's sons. One of the cubs was named Pat and the other Marsha. Mrs. Fordice wanted to be there too, but couldn't.
The former first lady was born Patricia Owens in Jackson, on November 27, 1934. On August 13, 1955, she married Kirk Fordice who was inaugurated as the 61st governor of Mississippi in 1992. Although she had studied psychology in college, she chose to stay home to raise their four children. She cared for former Governor Fordice, who was battling leukemia, until the time of his death on September 7, 2004. In late 2006, Mrs. Fordice revealed that she had cancer and was undergoing treatment in Jackson. After serving Mississippi with dignity and grace during and after her husband's term in office, former first lady Pat Fordice passed away peacefully in her sleep on July 12, 2007.
Mrs. Fordice chose to be a moving force in our great state and became one of Mississippi's most respected and beloved first ladies. She used her high profile to bring awareness to issues facing Mississippians, as well as enthusiastically involving herself with other issues that would bring a better way of life to all Mississippians. Her most recent project was the "I'm not your Mama" anti-litter service announcements for Keep Mississippi Beautiful and the Mississippi Department of Transportation. Some of her other projects included co-hosting Woman-to-Woman, numerous state beautification projects, lobbying for those with rheumatoid arthritis, raising funds for juvenile diabetes research and serving as honorary chair of Friends of Children's Hospital. In 2005, she was presented with the Outstanding Mississippi Woman Award from the Mississippi State University President's Commission on the Status of Women.
There are a few people in this world I truly admire, or have admired, and I truly admired Mrs. Fordice.
This is one lady we will all miss.