I do not own the rights to the music.
December 8, 2023 we ✝️ Celebrated the Life 🦋of my mom Pat Jacobs @pj713 in the chapel at the Lutheran Church of Hope in west Des Moines, IA.
My dad @markjacobs327 and my entire family would like to express our deep heartfelt gratitude to our family, friends and church family for lifting us up during these difficult times. We cannot express just how grateful we are for the outpouring of love and support.
My mom got to plan most of her celebration with us in her last couple weeks. She wanted to be remembered by butterflies and she hoped people would wear tie dye. The walls were covered with a kaleidoscope of 150+ butterflies that our church family and family created. 🙏🏼🦋 Thank you again to everyone, @hopecreativearts and @_revivewdm.
Pat’s friends and family showed up with a vibrant rainbow of tie dye clothing to honor her wishes. She wanted to worship and praise God for all he has done. She wanted a party with a dance floor that people would dance like no one’s watching. But the most important thing she wanted us to do is point to Jesus.
Jesus loves you and meets you right where you are.
”And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.“
Romans 5:5 NLT
The Holy Spirit has shown us through my mother, how to die well. She has shown us that even when we are up against the worst things that people can think of on the side of heaven we can still praise God through it all because of the work Jesus did on the cross. She knew she was going to be healed here or in heaven. She was at peace with the process whatever the outcome.
Her good friend sister Nancy wrote in an email “I see her wrapping joyfully around death as her next adventure.” What a gift she is to all of us – teaching us how to live the last chapter of our lives.
Thank you again to everyone who was able to join us in person and online to celebrate! And also thank you to those who shared their gifts, you made her celebration extra special:
@alyssagconley
@she_a_squire
@pastor_jeremyjohnson
@richard.webb.94695
@josh_kaiser
🎨 @ellie radcliffe
📸 @mbarrick11
Obituary
Patricia Ann Jacobs (Behrens), age 70 of West Des Moines, IA passed on to heaven on November 21st, 2023 and was blessed by God to be at home surrounded by friends and family up until her last moments and having lots of conversations and goodbyes.
Celebration of life service will be held December 8th, 2023 at 11am in the Chapel at The Lutheran Church of Hope 925 Jordan Creek Pkwy, West Des Moines, IA 50266 with Pastor Jeremy Johnson officiating. There will be a visitation to greet family from 10-11am in the Chapel before the service and a luncheon in the Bridge following the service.
The celebration of life service will be streamed live at this link at the time of the service 11am central http://(live stream https://wdm.lutheranchurchofhope.org/specialevents/). There will be a recording of the service posted on this site as soon as it’s available.
An interment ceremony of her ashes will be held at a later date.
Pat was born in Sioux City, Iowa on July 30, 1953 to Alice (Wright) and Loren Behrens. She was the first born out of 5 children. Her family attended Morningside Lutheran Church where she was confirmed and graduated from East High School. She met her husband, Mark, her sophomore year of high school while participating in marching band. Pat was very involved in school activities ranging from school plays, school newspaper to student government. She enjoyed staying active which is a trait she continued when she had a family. Mark and Pat were married in the summer of 1971. She pursued a career at the telephone company up until she started having children and decided to pause her career to stay at home. Pat and Mark had 4 children: Eric, Ryan, Renae and Brett.
The family moved to Waterloo in 1983 and shortly after, Pat started work as Youth Director at Zion Lutheran and later as a coordinator for Blackhawk Lutheran Ministries. Mark was offered a job in Bettendorf, Iowa in 1999 so they relocated there and became members of Redeemer Lutheran Church where Pat eventually served as the Youth Director. She loved working with youth and their families and made long lasting relationships providing a positive, Christian influence to young and old alike.
Pat and Mark tragically lost their oldest son Eric Jacobs in 2006 which eventually led them to move to West Des Moines in 2016, when Mark retired, to be closer to family.
They joined Lutheran Church of Hope which has been one of the greatest blessings as she became involved in numerous activities, Bible study groups and made some great friendships.
Some of her favorite things in life, besides her faith and family, were riding on RAGBRAI, camping either in tents or in her camping trailer, enjoying fresh picked Iowa sweet corn, and traveling across the country and exploring new places.
She’ll be remembered for having a contagious spark of life, her kindness, her hospitality, being a motivator, a challenger, and someone with a deep desire to know and live out God’s will for her life. Her children and grandchildren will remember her for her love, being a part of guiding them to faith, for her silly, playful nature, single-handedly starting back up the tie-dye trend and her sweet corn eating skills.
Pat always focused on pointing people to God and she continued to share God’s love and hope of eternal life up until her last breath. She would emphasize that it’s all about relationships, and that is all we can take with us to heaven. Pat left a wonderful legacy for us to follow. She fought the good fight, she finished the race strong, and she kept the faith. God bless her.
Pat is preceded in death by her mother, Alice, father, Loren, her bother Mark Behrens (Lark) of Tucson, AZ, and her oldest son, Eric Jacobs of Ankeny, IA. She is survived by her husband Mark of 52 years, her son Ryan Jacobs (Casie) of Palmer Lake, CO, her daughter Renae Zanella (Brent) of Guthrie Center, IA, her son Brett Jacobs (Katie) of Urbandale, IA, daughter-in-law Heather Moen (Eric) of Polk City, fourteen grandchildren, two great grandchildren, her sister Jan O’Neal (Tom) of Columbia, MO, her sister Kay Rickwa (John) of Kansas City, MO, her brother George Behrens of Tucson, AZ.
Memorial contributions may be directed to Lutheran Church of Hope, WDM, IA.
The family would like to express their deep thankfulness to Pat’s care team at John Stoddard Cancer Center, Dr. Kremer, nurse Darla, the Hospice caregivers, and the Lutheran Church of Hope staff.
At the very bottom of this page after the photos and “The Dash” poem we invite you to leave a prayer, a Bible verse, a story of Pat or anything that is on your heart in the comment section.
We will continue adding photos in the next few weeks.
A Glimpse into Pat’s Dash
Pat ordered these Lego glasses for VBS at Hope 4 or 5 years ago. She wore them everywhere! She would get so many comments on them which would be the perfect lead into letting people know how they were built for God. And she would witness to people right where they were. Just like Jesus meets us right where we are. You don’t have to get all cleaned up and polished with your life all together to come to Jesus. Come as you are! She did not want anyone to miss out on the unconditional everlasting love of God. Her life mission was to help make heaven more crowded!
Jesus Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection are often compared to the metamorphosis a caterpillar undergoes as it emerges from its cocoon to become a butterfly. The caterpillar vanishes into a cocoon, seemingly dead, just as the Lord’s lifeless body was taken down from the cross and placed in a tomb. After some time elapses, a new creature—more lovely and compelling than it was before—emerges(1 Corinthians 15:42–44,ESV) Read more…
The Dash Poem
(By Linda Ellis)
I read of a man who stood to speak
At the funeral of a friend
He referred to the dates on the tombstone
From the beginning…to the end
He noted that first came the date of birth
And spoke the following date with tears,
But he said what mattered most of all
Was the dash between those years
For that dash represents all the time
That they spent alive on earth.
And now only those who loved them
Know what that little line is worth
For it matters not, how much we own,
The cars…the house…the cash.
What matters is how we live and love
And how we spend our dash.
So, think about this long and hard.
Are there things you’d like to change?
For you never know how much time is left
That can still be rearranged.
If we could just slow down enough
To consider what’s true and real
And always try to understand
The way other people feel.
And be less quick to anger
And show appreciation more
And love the people in our lives
Like we’ve never loved before.
If we treat each other with respect
And more often wear a smile,
Remembering this special dash
Might only last a little while
So, when your eulogy is being read
With your life’s actions to rehash…
Would you be proud of the things they say
About how you spent YOUR dash?
PAINT PARTY!!!
Date: December 1, 2023 Time: 4-7 PM Come and Go
Where: Art Room at Lutheran Church of Hope in West Des Moines
925 Jordan Creek Pkwy, West Des Moines, IA 50266
Why: Join Renae in creating butterflies on canvas panels that will be installed in The Chapel prior to Pat’s Celebration of Life Service (details below).
Cost: FREE – All materials will be provided. Renae will have paints and a variety of painted paper to create a collage or painting of a butterfly in honor of her mother.
If you cannot make it Friday to create a butterfly but want to show support please stop by the art room this week to pick up a canvas or two to take home to create. Please have all butterflies returned to the art room by December 6, 2023.
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