The Rosary service for Patricia Ellis, age 70, of Lemmon, SD, will be on Friday, August 3, 2018 at 9 a.m. MDT followed by the Mass of Christian Burial at 9:30 a.m. MDT at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Lemmon, SD.  Fr. Tony Grossenburg will officiate with burial at the Greenhill Cemetery in Lemmon.

Patricia "Pat" Lee Moore was born on May 27, 1948 at Campbell County Hospital in Gillette, WY, to Norman "Sonny" and Nellie "Nell" (Wenande) Moore.  She joined one sister, Dee.  She lived with her family on their ranch on the Little Missouri River in Crook County, WY, attending rural schools until she was in the 6th grade.

In December of 1959, Pat, her mother, Nell, and her grandmother, Gertrude Wenande, were involved in a life-threatening car wreck that left Pat blinded.  She was only 11 years old and in the 6th grade.  Pat and Nell were airlifted to DePaul Hospital in Cheyenne, WY.  The front of Pat's skull was shattered and the team of doctors had to perform a very long and extensive brain surgery to remove as many bone fragments from her brain as possible.  After many months of recovering in the hospital, Pat and Nell were released to continue recovering at Sonny's parents place on the ranch until they were able to move back into their own home several months later.

In the fall of 1960, Pat's parents purchased a home in Gillette for Nell and the girls to live during the school year.  Pat attended Gillette Elementary and started the 6th grade over.  Unlike a one-room country school, Pat was able to hear only the 6th grade lessons making it easier for her to concentrate and learn.  Nell read Pat her lessons every night after school and tutors at the school read her tests to her.  In the spring of 1963, she graduated from the 8th grade and was ranked second in her class of 100 students.  Pat then attended the South Dakota School for the Blind in Aberdeen, SD, where she graduated from high school in 1967.

Pat suffered many illnesses from the scar tissue that formed on her brain resulting from her brain surgery.  Over the years, she was hospitalized at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, and the Neurological Hospital in Madison, WI.  Sonny and Nell also took Pat to one of the world's best eye institutes in New York City.  The doctors there told them that the surgeons in Cheyenne had performed the surgery just as effectively as they could have done it in New York.  This was reassuring news to Sonny and Nell as Pat was not stable enough to make the trip to New York for the operation after the car wreck.

In 1996, Pat married Ralph Ellis and they made their home on a small farm near Wasilla, MO.  She loved working with their livestock and especially liked raising guineas and chickens.  Ralph was very good to Pat and they were married for almost 25 years when he passed away in 2010.

Pat moved to Lemmon, SD, in December of 2011 and resided at Five Counties Nursing Home until her death on July 30, 2018.  Pat made many good friends with the residents and staff at the nursing home over the years.  She loved to play card games with friends using her braille playing cards.  She also enjoyed playing Checkers, Dominos, Bingo, Cribbage and Yahtzee where she used her abacus to keep her own score.  Fishing, reading her braille books and putting together jigsaw puzzles were also some of Pat's favorite hobbies.  She had a beautiful singing voice and could play several musical instruments by ear.  She was an avid knitter and could make everything from dishrags to afghans and gifts for her family and friends.

Pat was a true fighter.  She was funny, talented, intelligent, and an independent thinker who always kept a positive attitude.  Pat never complained about losing her vision or the hand she had been dealt in life.  She was a true inspiration to all who knew her.

Pat passed away early Monday morning, July 30, 2018, at the Five Counties Nursing Home in Lemmon, SD.

She will be greatly missed by her sister, Dee Kohn; her nieces and nephew and their spouses, Tina (Vance) Trogstad, Ryan (Jeanna) Kohn, Toni (Tracy) Hoffman; her great-nieces and nephews, Chloe and Talon Trogstad, Tayte, Allie and Jordyn Kohn, Lyric, Jet and Scout Hoffman; her aunt, Bonnie Wenande; her cousins and their spouses, Dianne (Ron) McCartney, Bill (Marianne) Wenande, Deb (Arlyn) Anderson and their families; and her very close friend, Rick Reed.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Ralph Ellis; her parents, Sonny and Nell Moore; her uncle, Bob Wenande; and the father of her nieces and nephew, Bill Kohn.

In lieu of flowers, a memorial has been established.