Martha “Patty” Mee, a longtime resident of La Floresta, Ajijic died at home on Wednesday, December 4 at the age of 72. She had struggled with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and the effects of tobacco addiction for many years. She was the widow of John W. Mee, who died here in 2004.
Mee was born in Cornwall, NY on November 12, 1941 and was the first child of the late Howard and Margery MacGregor Ochse. She grew up in the Hudson Valley and determined from a young age that she would become a registered nurse and take care of others. Mee was an honor student and a proud graduate of St. Luke’s Hospital Training School for Nurses in New York City.
She was married to John L. Giddings for 20 years and owned Acorn Knoll Kennel in Cornwall, where she bred and trained German Shepherds and Lhasa Apso dogs. Mee loved to bake, make jam, garden, sew, knit and refinish furniture. Her greatest passion was reading and talking about books. Her extended family benefited wonderfully from her creativity, her generosity in sharing her talents and her quirky sense of humor.
After the end of her first marriage, Mee returned to nursing and was the night shift charge nurse on the first floor of at Cornwall Hospital for many years. She had high standards for patient care and fiercely insisted that many a doctor live up to them. In 1987, she married John Mee, a school principal in Newburgh, New York, and began to travel to Mexico. They purchased a house in Ajijic and in 1991, retired from their jobs and migrated here with three dogs, three cats and 500 pounds of books.
The Mees threw themselves into their new lives as expats and joined the Lake Chapala Society, St. Andrew’s Church, the Orchid Club and the Growers Group. They made their gardens into a showplace and hosted meetings of the Ajijic Book Club at their home until last year. Mee also belonged to two Red Hat Society groups and a local sorority. She lovingly nursed, cared for and funded the neutering of the dozens of abandoned cats who turned up in her gardens where they found a safe refuge.
She is survived by two daughters: Joanna Giddings and her partner, Eric Peele, of Old Greenwich, Conn. and Dr. Virginia Giddings and husband, Billy Symons and their children, Samantha and Will of New Albany, Ohio. She was predeceased by her infant twin daughters, Adrienne and Christina.
At Mee’s request, no religious service will be held. Her ashes, and John’s, will be interred at Willow Dell Cemetery in Cornwall-on-Hudson, NY at a family gathering next summer. Donations in her memory may be made to the local Animal Shelter.