Patsy Croix

Patsy (PJ) Croix, 89, passed away on Wednesday August 28, 2024. She was born to Velda and Riley Davis in Mt. Pleasant, Texas where her father was a sharecropper. The family relocated to the developing town of Lake Jackson, Texas, where her father began working as a plumber's apprentice at Dow Chemical Company, and she became the older sister to James "Bud" Davis. She attended Brazosport High School. She was an active member in the Home Economics Club and the 4-H club. It was during mixers with the Future Farmers of America and other 4-H groups that she met Alfred Croix from Manvel, who would later become her husband.
She enrolled at Texas State College for Women, now Texas Woman's University. She took a break from college to marry. She supported her husband Al through his Dairy Farming studies at Texas A&M, he reciprocated, supporting her as she completed her Bachelor's degree at the University of Texas. They had two children and lived for many years in Carthage, East Texas, where Alfred worked as the County Agricultural Agent and Patsy as a social worker for the State of Texas.
Patsy devoted her life to helping others through her social work career and personally. She helped guide people through the morass of government paperwork. She generously donated the Davis family home in Lake Jackson to Habitat for Humanity. She was known for covering the title and taxes on a car she sold to help out the single mother buying it.
After many years of marriage, a divorced Patsy rechristened herself as "PJ" and
transferred to Angleton, Texas where she continued her service for the State of
Texas. She was a founding member of the Women's Shelter of Brazoria County.
PJ then decided to further her education; earning a Master's degree in Social
Work from the University of Houston. She became active in Houston Chapters of
Parents Without Partners and volunteered at Bering United Methodist Church
using her social work expertise to help patients with the Bering-sponsored clinics.
She retired from the state of Texas, twice. They kept asking her back.
PJ purchased her first travel trailer and became an RV traveler with the Escapees
while working for the state of Texas. After her second retirement, she bought a
larger rig and embraced RV travel full-time. She moved to the Escapee's RV Park,
Rainbow's End, in Livingston, Texas where PJ had a third career as a social worker
working for the Escapee's CARE Center.
PJ loved Livingston and the people there. She and neighbors Phyliss Bridge and
Alyce Caldwell were the 3 musketeers of volunteers for the Escapees Park. She
became a fixture at the 4:00 PM social hour where new travelers were
welcomed. After building a cabin in Livingston to serve as her home base, PJ set
off to explore the USA in her rig, embarking on several caravan trips and group
adventures. Highlights include visits to The Corn Palace and Mount Rushmore in
the Midwest, the RV Rally in Phoenix and the Grand Canyon, and Niagara Falls.
She planned The Big Trip for herself where she visited Presidential Libraries and
Museums across the country. Favorites were Harry Truman's in Missouri, JFK
Library in Boston, FDR in New York, and Bill Clinton in Arkansas. Benjamin
Harrison doesn't have a library, but she visited his home in Indianapolis as well as
Abraham Lincoln's home in Springfield, Illinois. Besides travel and a love of
animals, her hobbies have included gardening and sewing.
PJ said she wanted to have joined the marches for Civil Rights and Women's
Rights but, as a single mother, was concerned about losing her job with the state.
Once retired she became more politically active. She wrote letters. She yelled at
the TV. One of her bravest moments was a protest in Houston. A group had a
planned demonstration regarding how the city infrastructure was not being kept
in a safe fashion. When the protesters blocking the street were arrested PJ told
the police she was there to support the group. She found herself also arrested for
"stepping off the curb". Jail was not the pleasantest of experiences, but she felt
good about standing up for the cause.
PJ was a member of Parents Without Partners, Lone Star Lows, Loners on Wheels,
and Escapees.
Patsy was preceded in death by her parents Riley and Velda and her brother
James. She is survived by daughter Sheryl Croix-Dickmann and husband Fritz of
Houston, son Fred Croix and wife Candy of Valley View, Texas; grandchildren;
Katie Payne (Jonathan) and Scott Croix (Jamie); and great grandchildren Kalleigh
Croix and Weston Payne.
Celebration of life will be at Crowder Funeral Home, 2422 E. Broadway, Pearland
TX on Monday, September 16 at 11:00 AM. For those wishing to connect
virtually YouTube linkhttps://www.youtube.com/live/Q8UgvTOpoMA?si=IGh4ossJA0BQJAMW Her ashes will join her parents at
Resthaven Cemetery in Lake Jackson.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Escapees CARE, Inc.
https://escapeescare.org 155 CARE Center Dr. Livingston TX 77351,Habitat for
Humanity1-800-HABITAT (1-800-422-4828) https://habitat.org, or the
ASPCA American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
https://aspca.org,