REE HEIGHTS, SD – Patricia (Patty) Fawcett, 88 of Ree Heights, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, September 24, 2024, at the Good Samaritan Society in Miller, SD.

Funeral Mass will be at 10:00 am., Monday, September 30, 2024, at St. Ann’s Catholic Church, Miller, with Monsignor Charles Mangen, celebrant.  Burial will follow at the St. Ann’s Catholic cemetery, Miller.  Visitation will begin at 5:00 p.m., Sunday, September 29, 2024, followed by a 6:30 p.m. prayer service at the church.

Patty was born in Miller, SD at what was called the Campbell Maternity House.  She was the youngest of 9 children born to Joseph and Katherine (Selting) Faust.  She was a preemie and only weighed 4 pounds.  Her mom kept her warm by laying her in a well-padded shoe box surrounded by hot bricks.  Her parents lived near Polo until she was 5 years old when they moved to a farm east of St. Lawrence.  In 1946, at age 10, she was diagnosed with Polio and admitted to St. Lukes Hospital in Aberdeen.  She faced years of hospitalization and surgeries which made schooling difficult. She was able to take high school in 3 years and graduated from Miller in 1955.

On May 28, 1955, she married Delmar Fawcett and they moved to the family ranch south of Ree Heights.  To this union 3 children were born: Susanne, Robin, and Brian.  Patty never used crutches in the house but did most of the time when helping outside with cattle chores.  She did admit that some things were challenging but she loved working cattle and being outside.

Community activities were always important to Patty.  She was a 4-H leader for more than 30 years and received the Award of Appreciation for Outstanding and Dedicated Service to 4-H in 1988.  She served on the County Farmers Home Administration Board, volunteered with the County Literacy Counsel, served on the Advisory Board of the Good Samaritan Nursing Home, and was a member of the Tri-State Polio Survivors.  She received many honors from Extension Homemakers, the Altar Society, and the South Dakota Charolais Association.  In 2003, she was chosen to receive the Spirit of Dakota Award which honors women whose leadership qualities, courage, and community commitment illustrate the best of South Dakota womanhood.

Patty faced her physical challenges head-on.  Her favorite quote was “Life is 10 percent what happens to me and 90 percent how I react to it.”  She faced and triumphed over adversity and kept on moving.  In more recent years she had a new quote: “Getting older isn’t for sissies”.

Even though Patty wasn’t able to participate in sports, she was an avid sports fan….Go Vikings!  She followed the NFL, NBA, and most recently WNBA closely.  She had her favorite sports teams and was known to stay up late at night to see the final seconds of a ball game.

With advancing age came Post-Polio syndrome for Patty. She loved the ranch and seeing the cattle on the hills was a favorite site, but she could no longer help outside.  Record keeping was one of mom’s duties on the ranch but a friend of hers suggested she start researching genealogy.  

This became her passion for several years and the family is eternally grateful for the hours of research she did to put the family history together.

Grateful for having shared her life are her daughters: Susi (Dean) Odden, Ree Heights, SD, Robin (Michael) Strain, Sturgis, SD; her grandchildren Matthew (Sara) Odden, Rapid City, SD;  Joseph Odden, Sioux Falls, SD; Christopher Odden, Ree Heights, SD; Jade Morgan, Greeley, CO; David (Amre) Strain, Harrisburg, SD; 7 great-grandchildren; sister-in-law Yvonne Davis, Huron, SD; and numerous nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Delmar; son, Brian; sisters Agnes Smith, Freda Zens, Iola Hansen, Berniece Banman, Rosamond Williams; and brothers Wilfred Faust, LaVerne Faust, Florian Faust.

Reck Funeral Home, Miller has been entrusted with Patrica’s arrangements. Visit www.familyfuneralhome.net.

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