Dr. Patricia Jeanne Decker
1947 – 2026
Dr. Patricia Jeanne Decker, 79, passed away on September 6, 2026, following the difficult journey with Alzheimer's disease. Through it all, she was surrounded by the love of the family she cherished.
Patricia was born in 1947 in Laurens, Iowa, to Herman Charles Decker and Dorothy Jeanne (Hiatt) Decker. She lost her father, a Navy veteran, when she was young, so her mother, grandmother, aunts, and uncle were a steady circle of love and support. Thanks to them, she carried a deep love and gratitude for them all her life. Patricia attended school in Pocahontas, Iowa. When her mother remarried, the family grew with the arrival of her brother, Richard Bordwell. She married Thomas Forsmark in 1964 and moved to Muscatine, where she started her family with the arrival of her daughter, Amy, and her son, Anthony.
Years later, while raising her two children, Patricia returned to college. After earning her associate's degree from Iowa Central Community College in 1981, she went on to Iowa State University, where she completed her bachelor's degree and doctorate in psychology in 1988. Iowa remained her family's home base during those years. However, work and life later took her to Missouri, Arkansas, Ohio, and New Hampshire. She worked at several smaller colleges and briefly had her own private practice. Patricia then served as a school psychologist in Michigan, traveling from school to school to meet with and assess children who needed extra support. This allowed them to receive the special education services they deserved. She finished her career with the Social Security Administration, helping determine eligibility for people seeking disability benefits. Her life's work was helping people get the support they needed.
Patricia and her husband, James Bucher II, married in 1995 and settled in his home state of Michigan, where she spent more than 20 years in the house they built on the banks of the Grand River. She loved caring for their wooded acreage, keeping it beautiful, building a cabin, and creating a place of comfort where she could take walks, watch the birds, care for her beloved pets, and enjoy the nature all around her. A lifelong gardener, Patrica turned her harvest into jams, jellies, and pickles, including her watermelon pickles, that earned blue ribbons at the Iowa State Fair and county fairs. Along with her other talents, Patricia was also a beautiful pianist, and even in her later years, she brought joy to those around her through her playing.
Patricia is survived by her daughter, Amy Benjamin (Rick Moore); her grandchildren, Mallory Elizabeth Leonetti (Daniel), Christopher Thomas Benjamin (MJ), and Lauren Danielle Benjamin (Riley), and their father, Brian Benjamin (Ann); her daughter-in-law, Regan Mass Forsmark, and grandchildren Delaney and Everley Forsmark; and her sister-in-law, Janet Bordwell, and her nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her parents; her brother, Richard Eugene Bordwell; her husband, James Bucher II; and her son, Anthony Charles Forsmark.
She will be remembered for her determination, her love of good political debate, her interest in current events, the brilliance of a bright, blue sky, and the beauty she created with her hands, in her garden, in her kitchen, and at the piano.
A celebration of life will be held Saturday, October 24, 2026, at 11:00 a.m. at Merle Hay Funeral Home in Des Moines, Iowa. Those who wish may make a memorial gift to the Alzheimer's Association in her honor.