Patricia Ann (Johnson) Akins

Patricia Ann Akins passed away at her home in Benton, Illinois on July 17, 2018.  Pat was born in Peoria, Illinois to Charles E. and Edna (Avery) Johnson.  As a young girl, she loved playing semi-pro softball, running fast, and eating Fannie May chocolates.  Though almost always the youngest in her circle, she never knew it and always felt like one of the biggest kids (if not the biggest one). 
She first saw Arthur E. Akins, her husband of 57 years, driving by in a convertible and wearing his Air Force uniform while stationed in Peoria.  After marrying on her parents’ farm, she began her family in Little Rock, Arkansas and lived in Tehran, Iran before settling in Benton.  She raised three daughters and cared for her and her husband’s aging parents in the ensuing years. 
Few things made her as happy as giving gifts to friends and family and spoiling her grandchildren.  (Who says ice cream isn’t for breakfast?)  A competitive softball player and bowler for many years, she also enjoyed ceramics, listening to Elvis and Dean Martin, bingo, and playing cards with friends.  She spent many years active at the Elks and Boneyard Bocce Ball Club.
She was preceded in death by Arthur and her beloved sister, Vivian Johnson of Laura, Illinois.  She is survived by her loving daughters, Charlene Sarver, Angela Brewer, and Joy Akins and her sister-in-law, Shirley (Akins) Jones.  She will also be missed by her sons-in-law Ed Sarver, Dan Brewer, and Steve Buttitta.  She was over the moon about her surviving six grandchildren, Stephanie (Sarver) Bakmaz, Stacie (Sarver) Summers, Kacie Brewer, Rusty Brewer, Liam Buttitta, and Annan Akins, as well as her five great-grandchildren.  She will be loved and missed by them all. 
A graveside service will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, July 20th at the Masonic and Oddfellows Cemetery in Benton, Illinois.  In lieu of flowers, the family has requested donations to the Benton West City Ministerial Alliance Food Pantry.

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