Grammy-winning singer Patti Page may have sold more than 100 million records in her lifetime but to her family, she was simply a loving and caring mother her son told NBC.
Page, who left Beverly Hills behind and settled in Rancho Santa Fe in the early 1970s, died Tuesday night in Encinitas, Calif. according to her personal manager. The legendary singer was 85 years old.
Page performed all over the world and was often asked to sing her biggest-selling record, "The Tennessee Waltz" which she recorded in 1951. Others may know her as the voice behind the recording "(How Much Is That) Doggie In The Window."
The woman born as Clara Ann Fowler was not only one of the most successful female recording artists of all time, but she was also a caring mother who often cooked cornbread and beans for her son and daughter.
It was a favorite recipe she had learned from her parents – a mother who picked cotton and a father who worked on the railroad in Oklahoma.
Daniel O’Curran, spoke to NBC 7 San Diego about his mother near the Seacrest Village retirement community where she passed away.
Page had suffered a stroke about two years ago. As a result, she had trouble walking and could not sing to O’Curran as she had so many times when he was growing up.
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When O’Curran learned that his mother had performed for the people in the nursing home two weeks ago, he asked her to sing again for him. So she sang “The Tennessee Waltz.”
“She still had it at 85 years old,” he said recalling the last time she sang for him.
O’Curran said he often traveled with his mother as a child, following her on tour.
“Once she left the road, she was a Mom,” he said.
O’Curran, who now has his own 12-year-old daughter, said his mother once confided in him that if she could “do it all again” she would prefer to be a stay-at-home mother.
“I told her ‘You have blessed millions of people with your voice and to keep that from the world, it wasn’t meant to be,’” he said.
She was set to be honored with a life-time achievement award at the upcoming Grammy ceremony in February.
O’Curran said he is still astonished to this day of everything Page achieved in her life.
His mother was a humble low-key person who preferred to be at home with her children rather than attending Hollywood parties he said.
