Patty Held

Patricia Lynn Held, age 54 years of Niles, Michigan; wife, mother, grandmother, died peacefully at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, February 17, 2024 with her family gathered around her bed, following an extended  battle with cancer.

She was born on September 25, 1969 to Larry and Mary (Washburn) Cabanaw, and  graduated from Brandywine High School.  She was employed for more than ten years in the office of the former Welsheimer Funeral Home in South Bend, Indiana. 

Patty enjoyed life and being outdoors, from taking vacations to Northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula, to the Tennessee mountain area.  She also enjoyed taking  her grandchildren to local “U-Pick” farms for strawberries, apples and other varieties of fruits and vegetables. Those grandchildren, and the rest of her immediate family were the true focus of her life. 

On May 3, 1991 she married Christopher A. Held with whom she celebrated thirty-two years of marriage. She was preceded in death by her father, Larry Cabanaw on November 25, 2016.

Surviving family includes her husband, Chris, and their children, Danielle (& Jon) Overholt of Niles and Devin (& David) Julian of Niles; grandchildren Peyton Julian and Sadie Mae Overholt; Patty’s mother, Mary Cabanaw of Granger, Indiana; and Patty’s siblings, Debbie (& Chuck) Modlin of Niles and Todd Cabanaw of Dowagiac and several nieces and nephews.

The family of Patty Held will gather privately to share memories and honor her life.  Contributions in memory of Patty may be made to the Susan G. Komen For The Cure Breast Cancer Foundation, 13770 Noel Road, Suite 801889, Dallas, Texas, 75380, https://www.komen.org/.

Arrangements were completed at the Halbritter-Wickens Funeral Home, 615 East Main Street in Niles.  Online condolences and memories may be left at:

www.halbritterwickens.com

Patty loved life, family and the simplest things to experience true happiness. But the people in her life gave her meaning to live, and a reason to fight for life, and those closest to her were her true love.