My Story: Patsy Walker
Part One
TITLE: My Story: Patsy Walker – Part One
AUTHOR: Patsy Walker
PERMISSION to publish granted by the author
Patsy Walker was born on May 16, 1934 in Knoxville, Tennessee. In December of 2024, about eight months after her husband Moe passed away, she wrote to the Wilma Dykeman Legacy and requested a copy of a Knoxville News-Sentinel column which Wilma wrote in 1977, just after Wilma’s own husband had died. “I loved her writings so much,” Patsy wrote, “but the one about [her husband’s] death just spoke to me! I think it has been my favorite love story of all times! I kept the clipping all these years and was devastated to misplace it after my husband’s death.”
As Patsy and the Legacy corresponded, it became evident that she had written down her memories from growing up in northwest Knoxville. The Wilma Dykeman Legacy is proud to publish these memories for the first time in order to enrich the flesh-and-blood history of Knoxville during the mid and late 20th century. The photo is of newlyweds Patsy and Moe Walker in 1959.
“It’s not been an easy life,” says Patsy, “but it’s been a good life.”
MY STORY: PART ONE
Until I was 16 years old, I lived as an only child with Aunt Carmen and Uncle Jesse [Patsy’s paternal uncle]. When I was born, Aunt Carmen said, “she’s mine if I never get her.” So she started keeping me when I was still on the bottle. Mama and Daddy had an on-again off-again relationship, and I already had an older brother, Bobby.
Aunt Carmen and Uncle Jesse rented houses for a number of years and, as a result, I went to three different grammar schools: Moses, Perkins and West View. Even though we lived in different houses, Aunt Carmen and I spent a lot of time at Mama’s house on Clinbrook Avenue – especially when Uncle Jesse worked the 2nd shift at Appalachian Mills. I was able to play and visit with my siblings while growing up.
The only time I remember living in the same house as my brother, was the time Daddy took us to the country to stay with a family we didn’t know. He had obtained custody of us, and took Bobby and me to live with Aunt Rhett. She was raised by my grandfather’s sister, Aunt Theenie, and was really no kin to us. There was a bunch of kids there. The details are a little fuzzy since I was only 4 years old. I’ve never understood why Daddy didn’t let me stay with Aunt Carmen. Anyway, Bobby went to school while we lived there. I remember wetting the bed and Aunt Rhett wiping my face with the wet sheet. And I remember Mama coming once to see us. I don’t know how long we were there, but it was not a good experience.
I was in the 4th grade at Moses school, and stayed after school one day to help my teacher, Mrs. Hyder, clean the blackboards. When I didn’t come home on time, Aunt Carmen called the school to check on me. They said this was election day, and no students had stayed after school. By the time I sauntered home, Aunt Carmen had called Uncle Jesse home from work, my siblings were at my house, and everyone was out looking for me. Mama jumped out of a car when she saw Daddy walking up the street, grabbed him and wanted to know where I was. Of course he didn’t know what she was talking about. Anyway, Aunt Carmen was very unhappy with the teacher, so she pulled me out of Moses and sent me to Perkins.
I was adopted when I was about 9 or 10 years old. World War II was going on, and men with children were less likely to be drafted into the Army. So Daddy and Mama agreed for me to be adopted to Aunt Carmen and Uncle Jesse. The judge told me to choose the one I wanted to live with, and I went to Uncle Jesse. Uncle Jesse was called to Fort Oglethorpe anyway to be examined for service, but was turned down, I think for heart problems.
When I was in the 5th grade, Uncle Jesse bought a house from Mr. Lewallen and we moved a few doors from Mama on Clinbrook Avenue. The Knoxville News Sentinel now sits on that site. I left Perkins and enrolled in West View School. We lived in that house until I was in the 11thgrade, when we all moved to Michigan.