Roho Shinda (A.K.A., Thelma Patillo) in addition to being my mothers twin sister, was also my surrogate mother and one of my best friends. When my mother, Velma Hogans, preceded her in death in November of 2002, it was to her I would turn to when I had questions that my mother was not here to answer for me. It was to her that I turned to ask questions about my mother when I had no one else to ask especially after my mother was gone.
I can remember when I was a young child, my mother and I would walk to visit Roho and Fundi’s home for an evening of laughter, music and dancing. Yes, dancing, for it was Roho’s husband Fundi (A.K.A. Charles Patillo,) who taught me to dance. When I say dance, I mean he taught me to jitterbug. In fact, I spoke to Roho a few months ago about that and she agreed that he was an excellent dancer. She told me that Josie Johnson had also made that same comment. The one thing we both agreed to was that that was the one thing you missed about him most.
There were times when the family was together, and it didn’t take much to get everyone to start singing. It was usually gospel songs. Some of you may have forgotten that Roho had one of the most beautiful voices that God gave to anyone. She and her sisters, Ruby, Vivian, Freida, Grace, Elizabeth, and Velma were known as the Silver Tones. Their voices blended beautifully together. I remember seeing them in their black dresses with the Silver Notes pinned on their shoulders.
I guess you can say that the Silver Tones are back together again.
How many of you can remember the tiny house that the Patillos called home on West Haven. If you can imagine all the Westfields jammed into that little house singing, laughing, and dancing. That house was so small that I honestly think that you could totally fit it into the livingroom of the house on 35th street. ;o)
Many of you probably don’t remember the joke that Roho and Fundi would play at the family gatherings. They had a reel to reel recording machine. Before the family arrived at their home, they would hide the recorder somewhere in the room and if you were lucky enough to sit near the recorder, (without your knowledge,) you might find what you said being recorded. The recording was then played back near the end of the evening and surprisingly enough no one got mad and left to never return. But you know something, everyone knew that they did this and to my knowledge, they never complained and they always came back.
When my mother and I moved to the apartment on Sycamore, and she and I would walk to their home, (this was BC..before cars.) If I went by myself, Vaughn had the painful duty of walking me back to Sycamore. ;o)
Also, I don’t think anybody remembers the baby sitter that Roho and Fundi had for Vaughn and Faye. I know that baby sitters in "those" days didn’t charge much, but who else had a baby sitter that worked for just a bowl of dog food...Remember Mack, the Irish Setter they had? Roho told me that he would not let Vaughn and Faye go out of the yard. And in Los Angeles there was Duke and Dutchess the Boxers.
Until a few short years ago, everytime you saw Roho, she had some type of needle in her hand...sewing needle, knitting needle, crochet hook. I could be wrong, but I don’t think Faye ever had a store bought dress. Her mother made all her clothes. She even made some for me. She even took up weaving. There is one picture of my mother and Roho that was taken in front of the house on 35th street with the two of them wearing identical outfits. Yes, Roho and my mother made them. And if I’m not mistaken, they made the hats they were wearing in that picture. They had taken a class in tailoring and made the suits.
I’ve mentioned several time about the house on 35th street, but I want to make one more comment about that street. I was married, and had four children when I found out that just about everyone on 35th street was related to us. There were the Westfields, the Claridys, the Dixes, the Gilmores, the Browns, the Buchanans, and the Parkers, just to name a few.
I guess I could regale you with all kinds of stories about Roho and Fundi. Many of our family members have now gone on to family reunion in a better and loving place. But they will never be removed from our hearts.
I love you and miss you Roho
Barbara Jetty